Snapdragon
by happyhooligan2001
Summary: KayleeRiver, KayleeSimon, and KayleeSerenity. Seperated from the ship, Kaylee and Simon face a terrible evil on a moon named Oz. Now complete
1. Meat and Metal

-1**Serenity's Song**

**Chapter One**

**Meat And Metal**

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Kaylee curled up next to River. Kaylee's bunk was rather small for two people but at that moment neither one of them cared. Some people thought River Tam was a little crazy. The rest thought she was a lot crazy. Kaylee thought maybe River was the most sane person in the 'verse. 'She's so sane that all the rest of us crazy people think she's crazy.' The thought amused her. River did see things differently than the rest of them.

Kaylee smiled as River's light fingers moved across her body. Over the small breasts to her navel and the puckered scar next to it. "You're made out of meat." River murmured.

"Yeah, I guess so. Isn't everybody made out of meat?"

"Not everybody," River replied. "Serenity isn't made out of meat. She's made out of metal."

"Hey, you're right. I never thought of it that way."

River sat up in the bunk. Her dark hair hung over her face. "I love Serenity! Please don't get mad."

Kaylee grinned at her. "Why would I get mad?"

"I know you love her too. I hear you talking to her. I thought you might get jealous."

"I'm not jealous! We can both love Serenity. I think the captain would marry her if he could."

River took one of Kaylee's hands and looked it over, smiling. Kaylee had very beautiful hands with little scars, stains and calluses. River especially liked the grease and dirt imbedded under the short, ragged fingernails. "I like talking to Serenity. She's very old and wise. When she was born she was called Hector but she didn't like that name. She likes Serenity much better."

Kaylee's brow furrowed. Even she didn't know Serenity's original name. How does River know? Does Serenity really talk to River? No. She must have gotten into some old records in the computer. Maybe she really thinks the ship is talking to her.

River leaped from the bunk and approached the rear of Kaylee's cabin where the curved wall was actually part of the hull. She was so light and graceful that she seemed to float rather than walk. Her fingers gently caressed the hull then she pressed her cheek against it. An elfin smile crossed her face as she felt the ship vibrating. She could hear the thrum of the engines, mysterious thumps, groans, knocks and clacks. It was if the ship was singing to her. "She is the metal and we are the meat. Without the meat the metal will die. Without the metal the meat will die. Symbiosis!"

Kaylee joined her at the hull pressed her ear against it and smiled. "She really is alive isn't she?"

"She used to be dead, abandoned and unloved until Captain Reynolds brought her back to life with his love. Just like how I was dead, abandoned and unloved until Simon brought me back to life with love. Love makes metal live, ships sing and creates babies." River gently caressed Kaylee's face. "You should make babies with Simon. We have the same genes so it would be like us having babies."

The conversation was getting a little weird for Kaylee and she wasn't sure she was ready for babies. "I don't think Simon would really want to settle for a girl like me."

River grinned. "He likes you, he's just afraid. It's really silly. You can't really hurt him. He's so much bigger and stronger than you. You should see him in the morning doing pushups with his shirt off."

Kaylee shut her eyes and got a dreamy look on her face. "Yes, I really should."

Together the two girls held each other closely listening to Serenity's song.

The next morning Kaylee intercepted Captain Reynolds on his way to breakfast. "Cap'n we've got to get a new CO2 scrubber!"

"Can't you fix it?"

Kaylee shook her head. "It's been fixed and fixed and I can't fix it no more."

"How important is it?"

"Do you like breathing?"

Malcolm nodded his head. "I love breathing! It's one of my favorite things to do."

Kaylee looked him in the eyes. "If the CO2 scrubber gives out neither you nor anybody else on this boat will be breathing anymore. We'll all die out in the black and Serenity will die with us."

Jayne's voice echoed down the passageway. "What's all this about us not breathin'!? I like breathin' too!"

Malcolm waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Don't worry Jayne. Everybody on my boat gets to breath until I say different." He then turned his attention back to Kaylee. A concerned look on his face. "Don't we have a backup?"

Kaylee shook her head. "The one we're using is the backup! The main scrubber quit on us five months ago!"

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

Kaylee got a little frustrated. "I've told you about it every week for the past five months!"

"But not in a way that'll make me listen! How long do we have?"

Kaylee shook her head. "It might give out in ten minutes or it might last another four or five trips but we don't have long."

"How much is this going to cost us?"

Kaylee sighed. One thing Captain Malcolm Reynolds did better than anything else was prove that crime doesn't pay. "However much it costs. We need this or we don't fly."

Malcolm's jaw set. "We'll reach Oz in two days mei mei. I promise I'll get us a new scrubber before we leave."

"Shiny." Kaylee was satisfied. One thing Captain Reynolds would never do is break a promise to her.

When Kaylee and River followed Malcolm into the mess deck Zoe, Wash, & Jayne were already seated around the table. Shepherd Book had prepared powdered eggs and was spooning it out on everybody's plates.

Jayne looked up. "I'm surprised you two girls are still hungry." He then leaned back in his chair and gave an sly grin. "What with all the pie you ate last night!"

Shepherd Book looked extremely embarrassed. Kaylee stopped, made an embarrassed squeak, and stared at the floor. River completely ignored him and pranced to her chair. Wash's head jerked up with excitement. "Pie?! We have pie?!" Zoe gripped his arm and shook her head. "Oh . . . Oooooh." Wash sighed, nodding with mixture of awareness and disappointment. He really wanted some pie.

"Shut up Jayne!" Malcolm's voice brooked no opposition.

"Captain! I was just joking!"

"Not at the table Jayne! We don't discuss each other's private things at the table! I ain't telling you again!"

Jayne scowled but kept his mouth shut. When Simon entered the mess deck with Inara he noticed the atmosphere seemed tense but didn't know why. Kaylee seemed especially nervous. Jayne just had a smirk on his face. River was twirling her fork though the scrambled eggs. "So many eggs they lay but only some become chicks. Liquified, atomized, sprayed through hot gasses, dried and powdered to be boxed up, mixed with water and eaten by the dominate species. The hens don't even know!"

Jayne glanced over at the girl warily. He knew how dangerous River could be. The doctor was a pompous ass but he could be very useful after a job. The girl was nothing but trouble but he supposed she came along with the doctor as a package deal.

Simon sat down. "So Kaylee how are things going?"

Kaylee gave a little nervous smile. "We're getting a new CO2 scrubber. That way we all don't have to die."

Simon's eyebrows rose in surprise and he nodded. "That is very good news."

Kaylee quickly finished her breakfast and stood up. "I've got to go to the engine room and do . . . engine room stuff." She quickly hurried out of the room.

Simon watched her leave. "Is something up with Kaylee?"

Jayne gave a nasty sneer. "Not a damned thing!"

When Kaylee got to the engine room she first checked the lubrication. The spinning compression coil was supposed to be self lubricating but that didn't mean that it was. It seemed to be working. Then she double checked the CO2 scrubber. It was an emergency backup meant to last only for about a month. Just long enough to get the main one fixed. It wasn't meant to work for five months and getting blown up a couple of months ago in the engine room explosion didn't improve it much. It seemed to be still limping along. She made several more checks of different systems before she was satisfied that everything was working.

Kaylee then climbed up into her hammock and blew a wayward wisp of hair off her face. "Serenity, I just don't know what to do. I like both Simon and River. But I don't know how Simon would feel if he finds out about me and River. There might be a bit of an ick factor if he finds out I've been diddling his sister. But on the other hand he doesn't seem too eager to bunk with me himself. I'm sure he's used to pretty, high society girls. I'm just a scruffy mechanic." She put her hand out on the hull and felt it vibrating. "Sooner or later Jayne's going to tell him. He'll get all grossed out and I'll lose any chance I have."

She just lay there for a while, then on impulse she got out of her hammock. Kaylee pressed her ear against the hull. It was stronger here. More powerful. She shut her eyes and smiled listening to Serenity's song.

Authors's note: This is my first Firefly fic. I hope you like it. I'm just an old Navy Boatswain's Mate who used to sometimes press his ear against the hull, and listen to the ship sing.


	2. Oz

Serenity's Song

Chapter 2

Oz

Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly or any of it's crew. They belong to Joss Whedon blessed be his name.

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"Yeah, we have an ambulance. It don't have any life support equipment, just the vehicle and two body capsules." Malcolm told the man on the view screen. The man had a grey crew cut and a short salt and pepper goatee. His tanned face was creased with wrinkles.

The man nodded. "Is it stolen?"

"No it ain't. I bought it from a scrap yard on one of the core planets and we refurbished it ourselves. We have the paperwork if you need to see it. It's not legally an ambulance but it looks and acts like one."

A smile creased the man's weathered face even more. "I'll take care of the legalities. But I'm not too eager to trade a perfectly good CO2 . . ." The picture faded into a blur of static. After a few minutes it faded back in. "Sorry about that, the local ion storms play hell with communications. I was just saying I wouldn't want to trade a perfectly good CO2 scrubber for a junk ambulance."

Mal stroked his chin. "From what I understand, it's a scrap scrubber."

"Very well Captain Reynolds, I'll make the trade pending my mechanic havin' a look at the ambulance first."

"And I'll have my mechanic look at the scrubber. If they both approve we'll have a deal."

The old man held up his hand. "Not yet. Clancy tells me you have a doctor on board."

"Yeah, Doctor . . . . . uhhh Smith!"

"Well I want Doctor Uhhh Smith to give me and all my people a full medical exams and all necessary treatments."

Mal frowned. "Sounds to me like you're asking for more than what was agreed upon."

"Sounds to me like you need a CO2 scrubber a lot more than I need an ambulance."

Malcolm nodded. "OK Mr. Strober we have a deal pending mechanical approval."

He shut off the view screen and rubbed his eyes. They were going to make planet fall on Oz in another day and he spent most of this day making calls trying to track down a CO2 scrubber that would fit into a rather elderly Firefly. He climbed up the ladder into the passageway. There he noticed Kaylee leaving the bridge. Of course she listened in.

"Kaylee, how do feel about this? You put your sweat into that ambulance and I promised you a share and a half when we got around to selling it."

Kaylee smiled "Don't worry about me. We need this scrubber real bad. How do you think Simon's going to feel?"

"Can't say I really care. I was just heading down there to tell him to pack up."

"Well, at least be polite. He is a member of the crew."

Malcolm nodded. "Polite, yeah sure. I'll try to remember that."

When Malcolm entered the sick bay Simon was in there sorting through the drugs they'd stolen from Ariel. River was sitting on the table watching.

"Simon, pack up your doctor stuff! I have a job for you!"

Simon looked up Captain Reynolds seemed too calm for it to be an emergency. "So what is it?"

"I need you to do full checkups and treatments for a bunch of people dirtside. I hope you don't mind since you're going to do it anyway." He did promise Kaylee he would be polite.

Simon gave a small smile. "You mean I get to use my talents for something that doesn't involve bullet or knife wounds? Of course I don't mind."

"Come on, we do use you for other things."

"Yes, that's true. Jayne does pick up an occasional disease from the brothels."

"We're going to Oz." River's soft voice interrupted the two men.

"Yeah, this moon's named Oz. We'll be landing soon." Mal replied.

"The Lion wants courage, it feels afraid but it's really very brave. The Scarecrow wants a brain, it's actually very smart but it's head is full of straw. It doesn't work right." She looked directly at Simon. "The Tin Woodman doesn't think he has a heart but he's actually full of love. His heart belongs to the Scarecrow and the Lion." She then looked at Malcolm. "Dorothy just wants a home. Dorothy believes The Wizard can restore it. Dorothy should beware of the Wicked Witch of the West!"

Mal's brow furrowed. "Are you trying to say something or is this just the usual crazy babbling?"

Simon gave a little smile. "It's just a book River was rather fond of as a child. The name of the moon just triggered her memories."

"OK River babble all you want, just don't attack anybody."

Her face remained serious. "You don't know what the Cowardly Lion is capable of. Nor do you fully understand the Scarecrow."

Mal headed for the door. "You two have fun in here." He had a sense of foreboding. River sometimes set him on edge. This deal might not work out as smoothly as he thought. But he seldom made a deal that did. When he entered the cargo hold he noticed Shepherd Book lifting weights while Jayne spotted him. Book was pretty strong for an old man.

"Jayne, Book, we need to clean up the ambulance. We're about to sell it and we want it looking all shiny."

Jayne grinned. "How much you reckon we'll get for it?"

"A CO2 scrubber. A rancher named Sebastian Strober say's he's got one."

Jaynes grin faded to a look of confusion. "So I'm gonna to get ten percent of a CO2 scrubber?"

"Remember that conversation we had about breathin'?"

"Yeah."

"That's what this is all about, us breathin'"

Jayne blinked then nodded slowly. "Oh, OK." He said with a tone of disappointment. He really did like breathing. Of course he liked money too. Book went off to get a bucket of soapy water.

Kaylee was feeling happy and excited. She was going to go on a field trip. As much as she loved Serenity it was good to get away from the ship once in a while to enjoy the sunshine and the wind. Best of all, Simon was going with her! She'd better look nice. She knew Simon liked her but only because she was the only girl available. She wanted him to love her for herself. She looked in her mirror. Ugh! Better clean up. Kaylee scrubbed herself thoroughly head to toe not forgetting to clean the grease from under her fingernails. A little touch of makeup. Not too much. Kaylee didn't like too much. She selected a clean set of workpants and shirt along with her turquoise jacket. Then she polished her combat boots and buffed them until they gleamed. She ran her fingers though her damp freshly washed hair. Maybe a French braid. Inara can help her with that.

As Kaylee walked across the cargo bay catwalk to Inara's shuttle she stopped to watch the boys cleaning the ambulance. The core planets were so rich, and so wasteful. She was able to repair the ambulance in one day. It probably never occurred to the hospital to fix it. If something breaks, just throw it away and buy a new one. For Kaylee it was a totally alien way of thinking. She shook her head in disgust and continued on to Inara's shuttle.

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The room was rough hewn. Oz was still a rough and tumble frontier world. The family that lived in this house tried to make it as comfortable as possible. Prints of fine paintings decorated the walls which were covered with wallpaper of a blue and white flower motif. The rough wood dining table was covered with a clean white tablecloth and the nicest china the house had to offer. The sound of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major played softly. The room was lit with a pair of pewter candelabras. The three men and two women seated along the sides of the table ranged in age from early thirties to early teens. All wore expensive, elegant, but ill fitted suits and dresses. The woman seated at the head of the table was in her fifties. She wore an expensive blue velvet ball gown that was a size too large for her thin frame. Her once beautiful face was now lined from her nearly perpetual scowl and on her graying brown hair was an impressive diamond tiara.

A fourth man, very burly in his late twenties, entered the room and started to take a seat. The old woman glared at him. "Did you remember to wash your hands Percival?!"

"Yes mother."

She nodded curtly and the man sat down. The youngest at the table, a boy, about 14 reached for the stack of fried chicken. The old woman brought a switch up and swatted his hand.

"Oww!" He snatched his hand back.

"Mind your manners Aglovale! Proper ladies and gentlemen don't reach for the food until we say grace! Otherwise you'll all burn in Hell like your father!" Mabel West bowed her head and all her children did likewise. "Jesus we thank you for this bountiful feast and ask you to forgive us for the many sins we committed today and we ask you to give us more easy pickings so we can all be proper ladies and gentlemen."

"Amen!" They all chorused. She knew the prayer was very important. Otherwise she and her whole family would be doomed to eternity in Hell for all the crimes they committed. The oldest man who was seated to her left picked up a fork. The switch came down.

"Gawddammit Ma!"

"That's your salad fork Lancelot! Use the other one! Once we're on the core planets you'll never pass for a gentleman unless you use the right fork! Furthermore you call me Mother, not Ma!" The switch lashed across his cheek leaving a welt. "And you never take the Lord's name in vain!"

"Yes Mother."

"We ain't got no salad Mother." A young woman in her late teens spoke up.

Mabel glared at her. "Don't say ain't, Morgan! You say 'We do not have any salad mother.' You think some young, handsome millionaire is going to marry some woman who says ain't?! And you've got way too much makeup! You look like a whore clown! How do you think you'll look at a fancy dress ball! Look at your big sister Guinevere. Makeup should accent your face, not dominate it!"

The girl cringed. "Yes Mother."

The family ate in near silence except for an occasional 'Please pass the butter,' or 'Please pass the peas.' Mabel felt a sense of satisfaction. She was training her children to be proper ladies and gentlemen. Someday they will have enough money to move to one of the core planets, buy a big mansion, and join high society. Then their lives will be full of fancy dress balls, chandeliers, yachts, and polo games. Just like on the tri-dee movies. She must always make sure they learn good manners and don't desecrate their bodies with those ugly tattoos that some of them seemed so eager to get. A low groan came from the next room.

Percival looked up and smiled. "I suppose we didn't kill one of them enough."

"Mother, may I please be excused?" Gawain asked.

"Yes, you may."

Mabel West watched her son as he wiped his mouth with his napkin, get up and move into the other room where the bodies of the farmer and his three sons lay. The bodies of the mother and her fifteen year old daughter were still tied to the beds. Mabel's sons had their way with them before slitting their throats. It was very distasteful. As soon as they got off this godforsaken rock and reached the core worlds they would, of course, all marry wealthy debutants but meanwhile they had to get their rocks off somehow. They weren't allowed to touch the youngest daughter though. She was only eight. Mable put a bullet in the little girl's head herself. After all, they weren't savages. It was a shame they weren't born as wealthy as they deserved to be. Then they wouldn't have to raid all these isolated farms, ranches, and miners. Soon they would have to pack their nice clothes into their garment bags, strip the house of valuables, and burn it down.

"Where are we going next Mother?" Guinevere asked.

"The Flying S Ranch. I heard Sebastian Strobel has a lot of cash there. Should be easy pickings. Most of his hands are in town selling his cattle." Her children grinned and nodded.

From another part of the house came the crying of a hungry baby. "Mother, should I finish off the baby?" Lancelot asked.

"Of course not! We're not savage reavers! We don't kill babies! We'll take him with us. I'll name him Arthur. We'll raise him up to be a polite young gentleman, just like the rest of you."


	3. Saint Sebastian

**Saint Sebastian**

**Serenity's Song**

**Chapter 3**

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The sun was shining brightly on Oz. Apollo, the huge gas giant Oz circled hung high in the sky. Kaylee blinked and squinted as she wheeled the heavy cart down Serenity's cargo ramp. After a couple of weeks on the ship her eyes weren't used to bright sunlight. The Emerald City Spaceport was crowded and dusty like most of the spaceports she'd seen. The ambulance parked in front of the ramp gleamed in the bright sunshine.

"Now don't be handing out too much of our medicine." Mal told Simon as he put his medical bag in the back of the ambulance. "We worked real hard to steal those. If somebody's dying then go ahead but it's OK if somebody has a stomach ache for a while."

"You're a regular Albert Schweitzer." Simon replied.

Mal nodded as he pushed the button lowering the ambulance's rear ramp. He had no idea who Albert Schweitzer was. As Kaylee wheeled her cart up the ramp, He spotted Mr. Strober approaching with two other men and a woman. "Now just do your jobs and come back as soon as you can. I don't pay you to go sightseeing."

Malcolm left to greet Mr. Strober. Simon helped Kaylee clamp the cart down. "It's been over a month since he's paid us to do anything." Simon grumbled under his breath.

Kaylee just smiled happily. Maybe she'll get some alone time with Simon. She understood where Malcolm was coming from. Serenity was like a shark. She had to keep moving or she'll die. That's what this whole trip was about. A ship doesn't make money sitting on the dock. Money meant fuel, supplies, and parts. Malcolm needed to find a job or cargo as quickly as possible and move on.

River sat on the cargo hold catwalk staring out the open cargo door. The two people she loved most in the whole 'verse were going away into terrible danger. She wished she could make them understand but her head was full of straw.

"So do they have many emeralds here?" Kaylee asked Simon, trying to make conversation.

"No emeralds, there's a smattering of diamond mines here, they had a big rush a few years ago but no emeralds."

"So why do they call this place 'Emerald City?'"

"Because the moon's named Oz."

Kaylee got a puzzled look on her face. "I don't get it."

Simon noticed Malcolm approaching with Strober and his companions. "I'll explain later." He stepped down to greet them.

"You must be Dr. Smith." Strober held out a large beefy hand.

Simon looked past Strober to Mal who nodded. "Yes, Doctor Zachary Smith." He half remembered some ridiculous old 2D videos River had found when they were children and after all, he did feel Lost in Space.

Strober shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you Zachary. You can call me Sebastian." He noticed Kaylee peering out the door. "And this must be Kaylee, the mechanic. I never expected anyone so lovely and charming."

Kaylee beamed at him. She was beginning to like the old man already. "I think you'll like the ambulance. Counter-grav drive. Sweet little Ferguson Mark IV hydrogen fusion engine. Of course it's not as powerful as the new Mark VI's but she'll do three hundred klicks an hour if you push it. I replaced the old lithium laser ignition system with a military grade phased gravitron pulse igniter. It'll . . ."

Sebastian held up his hand stopping her. "You can tell me all about it later. We'll give it a test drive back to the ranch. That's where the scrubber is. You two will do your jobs and I'll give you a ride back here."

"Don't accept the scrubber if it ain't no good." Malcolm admonished her. "This whole deal hinges on your approval."

"Don't worry Captain. I'm sure it'll be fine."

Malcolm gave Strober a look that sent an unspoken message. _'These people are my crew, I expect them back safely.'_

Strober's people loaded some boxes into the back of the ambulance and climbed in. Sebastian shook Malcolm's hand. "Don't worry, I'll have them back in a couple of days safe and sound."

"Yeah, you'd better."

Kaylee waved. "See ya later, Captain! You find us a good job!"

Kaylee climbed in the back with Stober's employees while Simon got in front with Sebastian who took the driver's seat. The rear ramp creaked a bit as it closed. _"Better put some oil on that." _Kaylee thought. She wanted the ambulance to be in the best shape possible for the deal. Her personal pride was at stake as well as Serenity's reputation. Malcolm wanted to establish a reputation of absolute honesty, at least when making business deals.

As the ambulance sped out of town and into the scrub the man seated across from Kaylee gave her an ugly grin. "I've got what you need, Sweetheart."

"What's that?" Kaylee asked curiously.

In response the man grabbed his own crotch. Disgusted Kaylee turned her head.

"I know how you spacers are." He whispered to her. "Out there in the black. Apart from the rest of the 'verse. You get all horny. You can't wait to land somewhere and get a real man."

"Leave her alone Gary!" The woman seated next to Kaylee admonished the man. The other man was just looking away. Ignoring the whole situation.

"Mind your own damned business Polychrome! I'm talking to the spacer! Not you!" Gary reached out to try to touch Kaylee's cheek. Kaylee slapped his hand away.

"Believe me, I'll never get that horny."

"What's going on back there!?" Sebastian's voice boomed. Kaylee noticed Simon was looking back at them concerned.

"Gary's trying to get fresh with Kaylee!" Polychrome called up.

"These people are our guests! You treat them with respect or you can walk back to the ranch!"

"Yes sir." His three employees answered. Gary stared at Kaylee with a mixture of lust and contempt.

Kaylee felt angry. The way Gary said 'spacer' as if it were something dirty. She didn't mind being called a spacer although she preferred the old, nearly obsolete word 'astronaut.' It just sounded so quaint, old fashioned and romantic. Like the people on old Earth who rode into space on crude chemical fueled rockets. She didn't understand the contempt some grounders felt toward those who chose to live in space. For the first eighteen years of her life she was a grounder and all she could think about was being in space. It did involve some sacrifices. Bad food, cramped quarters, hard work, and constant danger. She hadn't seen her family in over two years and she missed them. But she never regretted her decision and didn't have any bad feelings to anyone who chose to live differently.

"Don't mind Gary, he's just a bit of an asshole." Polychrome told Kaylee. "I'm Polychrome Kirby and this is David Lewis." She gestured at the other man.

"Kaywinnet Lee Frye." Kaylee shook her hand. "My friends call me Kaylee." She liked Polychrome. David seemed a bit of a milquetoast. She didn't like Gary at all.

Up front Sebastian brought the ambulance up to cruising speed. "Two hundred fifty klicks an hour! She's riding smooth as silk! We ought to be home in no time!" They were zooming over some cotton fields. He turned on the siren just to hear it go.

"So how far is it to your ranch?" Simon asked.

"At this speed? About five hours."

"Five hours!?"

"It's a big moon. Almost Earth sized. But if you ain't in The Emerald City you're out of town."

"So tell me, what do you need an ambulance for?"

"I'm building a hospital out in Sasebo. A little town near my ranch. Right now the only hospital on this rock is in The Emerald City. That's not much help for people out where we live. I'm the richest man in the county so I've got transport. Most folk out there have to depend on horses. A hospital would attract settlers, business, and industry. It will also save lives. We're going to name it Saint Sebastian's Hospital.

"So you're naming it after yourself?"

"No, we're naming it after Saint Sebastian." Sebastian's voice had a touch of irritation.

"Of course, so who was Saint Sebastian?"

"He lived on the Earth a long time ago. He went around doing good deeds and miracles and such. I think he was a priest or pope or monk or something."

Simon nodded. "A truly inspirational story." He said without a trace of sarcasm in his voice. "I can see why you would want to name your hospital after such a devout and holy man."

Sebastian scowled. "How about I'm building the hospital, paying forty percent of the expenses and supplying this nice ambulance so I can name it whatever I damn well please! How do you like that?!"

"A good honest answer? I like it very much."

Sebastian drove on silently for a moment, then a smile creased across his face. "I like you Dr. Smith. A hospital without doctors is just a building. Why don't you sign up with us. We could use a good man like you."

Kaylee looked over at Simon and saw a dreamy look cross his face. She knew how much Simon hated life in space. He didn't love Serenity the way she and River did. To Simon she was just a ship and a rather rickety one at that. He longed to settle down on a planet somewhere and just be a doctor. But she also knew what his answer would be. He and River were now like Serenity. They had to keep moving or they'll die. Probably for the rest of their lives. He had given up everything for love of his sister. The love between Simon and River was pure and powerful. Even when River was at her craziest she still deeply loved her brother and he deeply loved her. All Kaylee wanted was to share in that love.

"I'm sorry Mr. Strober, your offer is very generous but I must decline for personal reasons. You understand don't you?"

"I understand but I'd like you to see where I'm coming from." Sebastian reached inside his jacket and pulled out a moving photo to show Simon. The young woman in the photo had her black hair pulled back into a pony tail and wasn't pretty by conventional standards. The nose and teeth were much too large for the freckled face and the cheeks were scarred by an old case of acne. But she had a merry twinkle in her blue eyes and an infectious grin that made her whole face light up. No man could see that grin and not fall in love with the woman.

Simon held the photo. "She's beautiful."

"My first wife, Ruth. We were married only four years. One night she tripped on a toy wagon our son left out and fell down the stairs. It wasn't the boy's fault. He was only three and didn't know any better. Ruth got all busted up inside. Internal bleeding. If there had been a hospital we could have saved her." Sebastian stared off into the distance. "All I could do was make her comfortable and hold her hand as her life slowly drained away." His voice cracked a little. "That was thirty years ago and I miss her every day. I love my wife Ellen more than life itself but Ruth was the woman I planned to grow old with. That's why I've scrimped for three decades to build a hospital. Not just for Ruth but for all the people who deserve better."

Simon handed the photo back. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you Zachary. Just keep your end of the bargain and give my family and employees full checkups and treatments and I'll see to it you get a nice shiny CO2 scrubber.

The sun got lower in the sky as the ambulance flew on toward it's destination.

"Should we hit them tonight?" Percival West asked Mabel.

"No! Old man Strober hasn't come back yet! He's probably the only one who knows where the money is! We'll get them tomorrow. Is the machine ready?"

"Yes mother." Lancelot answered. He was fine tuning the Ion charger. It both attracted and increased the local Ion storms making radio communications impossible. They picked it up from some claim jumpers they massacred. It was a very useful device.

"This will be our biggest haul yet." Mabel declared. "Just make sure there aren't any survivors when we leave."


	4. The Derelict

**Snapdragon**

**Chapter 4**

**Derelict**

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Author's note: I decided to change the name of my story from Serenity's Song to Snapdragon for no reason other than I felt like it. And I would like to thank those who've reviewed my story so far. Ummm, no one there. Well I'm going to finish it anyway so take that!

After a long ride the ambulance flew over a low hill. The setting sun revealed a Firefly class transport sitting in a valley. "There's your scrubber." Sebastian announced.

"You have a spaceship?" Simon was astonished.

"Sort of, the captain and crew put a landlock on it and abandoned it nineteen years ago to go diamond prospecting in the hills. The captain found some, came back later and sold both shuttles to raise money for a mining operation. He never did strike it rich. Just made barely enough to keep digging. He was shot by claim jumpers about five years later and had no heirs so it's mine. Scavengers keep picking at it and I have to chase them off once in a while.

"Technically, all salvage and abandoned property belongs to The Alliance." Simon pointed out.

Sebastian smiled. "Yeah, I seem to remember getting a letter from them about five or six years ago saying that exact same thing. If they send someone out here to haul it off I ain't going to fight with them but until then it's sitting on my land so it belongs to me!"

As they got closer, the ship presented a sad sight. The hull was streaked with rust, both engine nacelles had been crudely cut off, there were several small holes cut in the hull where various items and sensors had been removed and a couple of the windows were missing entirely. The cargo ramp was lowered with the inner doors closed. Drifting dirt had buried about half the ramp and scrubby brush was growing on it. Vines had crept up the landing gear. On the bow was a comical, grinning dragon painted on with peeling paint with the name 'Snapdragon'.

"The poor thing!" Kaylee exclaimed.

Gary took a sip from a hip flask. "It's gorram fei-oo!"

Resentment rose in Kaylee. "It's not a piece of junk! Her name is Snapdragon and you treat her with respect! She's been more places than you could ever dream of!"

Gary sneered at her. "You seemed pretty hot for junk. I bet you got a lovebot on your ship!"

"I'm sure a lovebot's better than anything you have to offer!" Polychrome responded. Gary glared at her angrily.

Sebastian parked the ambulance in front of the ship and they all got out. "It's just like San Francisco Bay." Simon remarked.

"What?" Sebastian asked.

"San Francisco Bay, it's on the west coast of North America on Earth. During the California gold rush in the 1850's crews would abandon their ships to go out to the gold fields. The harbor was full of empty ships rotting at their moorings. Some were eventually used for landfill."

Kaylee glanced over at Simon. He was so smart and knew so much history. And she felt nothing but disgust at the crews. Both in old California and present day Oz. "How could they do something like that Simon! It's horrible!" To her, abandoning a perfectly good ship like that was like leaving a small child or a pet out in the wilderness to fend for itself.

"To most people, ships are just things." He said somewhat awkwardly. After all, he was one of those people. But he knew Kaylee felt differently. She just shook her head in disgust. "Here let me take that." He said reaching for her toolbox. Kaylee handed it over. She was perfectly capable of carrying her own tools but she wanted Simon to feel like a gentleman.

David elected to stay with the ambulance. Sebastian strode up to the ship's inner doors and unlocked a padlock attached to the personnel door. The hinges squealed in protest as he pushed it open. Simon, Kaylee, and the others then followed him into the cavernous cargo hold. The interior was uncomfortably warm and had a musty smell of bat guano and old urine. Filthy mattresses were scattered around the deck and a large scorched area in the middle showed where someone had built a campfire. A few bats fluttered in the rafters and thin beams of light came in through holes in the hull. "Hobos and scavengers hauled these mattresses out of the living spaces." Sebastian explained. "With no ventilation they get pretty stuffy in there. I don't think there's any in here now though. They would have broken the lock."

"Your precious little crapdragon smells like hoe-tze duh pee-goo." Gary muttered to Kaylee.

"I'll have to take your word on that. I've never snorted a monkey's ass." She replied. Polychrome giggled but Gary scowled angrily at her.

Sebastian then pulled a flashlight from his pocket and flicked it on. Kaylee pulled one from her tool belt and did the same. Apparently, no one else had one. He led the way to the stairs. Kaylee was starting to get the creeps. It was dark inside the derelict and their footsteps echoed through the empty cargo hold. By the time they got to the engine room corridor the flashlights were the only light they had. The engine room door creaked as Sebastian pushed it open. As they filed in Kaylee shined her light around. A lot of equipment had been stripped out. The compression coil still sat in the middle of the room and she looked at it longingly but it wasn't any better than the one on Serenity. Wouldn't be worth the trouble of taking it out. She then went to the CO2 scrubber and suppressed a whistle. A Karanga-Goodall B Series. This wasn't original equipment. Fireflys were built as cheaply as possible with the cheapest materials available. They've been compared to the old Ford Model T's or the Liberty Ships. This Karanga-Goodall was fairly expensive and designed for ships about twice this size. The B Series came out a little over twenty years ago so this one had to be practically new. She suppressed her excitement. If Mr. Strober knew how good the scrubber was, he might try to renegotiate the deal. And after all, the ambulance is still worth more than the scrubber.

Kaylee calmly and efficiently took a small but powerful battery pack from her toolbox, disconnected the power lead to the scrubber and attached it to the battery. A couple of green lights came on and a low hum came from the device. She attached a couple of wires to the small hand computer she brought and checked the readings. "It'll do. But it'll take hours to get it out."

"Then it'll wait 'til tomorrow!" Sebastian bellowed. "We've got supper waiting for us. Come on!" Kaylee was pretty reluctant to leave the scrubber but it had been sitting there for nearly twenty years and it could wait one more day.

Strober's house was about four miles from the Snapdragon. A two story building built out of the native stone, it was built in a valley surrounded by large rocky hills. There was a large barn and two smaller houses near the house also made out of stone. The buildings looked old. They had probably been built soon after the terraforming before the trees had grown out enough to provide lumber. Two women, a man, and three children came out of the house as the ambulance approached. Sebastian brought the ambulance to a halt and opened the doors.

As they left the ambulance a thin handsome woman with graying red hair gave Sebastian a kiss. "Nice toy, where's Wilson?"

"Wilson's taking the hover truck back. He'll come back in a couple of hours. You won't believe how fast this thing is!"

He then gestured at Kaylee and Simon. "Here are our new guests Kaylee Frye and Doctor Zachary Smith! Kaylee, Zachary, This is my wife Ellen, my daughter Cecilia Strober Kellogg and her kids Oscar, Dot, and Billy. That fellow's my foreman Greg Kirby.

As Simon shook hands with Cecilia he noticed a she had a strong resemblance to Ruth. Her hair was lighter and she avoided the acne attack but she had the same large nose and teeth as well as the heart melting grin. She looked to be in her early thirties and had to have been a baby when her mother died. He also noticed that Sebastian's eyes softened when he looked at her like he was seeing his lost wife again.

"Grandpa! Give us a ride!" The children rushed the ambulance.

"Maybe tomorrow. I've sat in that thing all day! Besides I smell supper!"

When Kaylee entered the house the sight and smells were overwhelming. Ham, turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, is that a cherry pie? Oh! They have mangos! After endless weeks of ship's rations her mouth was watering. Sebastian pulled out a chair at the very end of the table. "Here Kaylee, the seat of honor! Poly, you sit next to her. Two lovely young ladies such as yourselves should have a lot to talk about. He then proceeded to the other end of the table. "Zachary you sit over here at my right hand side." Ellen sat on his left and the rest of the group pulled out their own chairs.

After they all sat, Sebastian bowed his head and every one else followed suit. "Dear Lord, we thank you for this wonderful bounty and ask for your blessings on our new hospital and we ask you to send us good doctors to run the hospital. In Jesus name we pray. Amen"

There was so much good food that Kaylee didn't know what to eat first. She decided on ham. "Do you always eat this good?" She asked Polychrome.

"Yeah, on Christmas! And I ain't seen a mango in years. Mr. Strober has killed the fattened calf for you guys. Or at least the fattened pig and turkey." She leaned over, conspiratorial, and whispered. "I do believe Mr. Strober's trying to steal your boyfriend away."

Kaylee looked up. Now that she mentioned it, Mr. Strober had seated Simon right next to himself and as far away from Kaylee as possible where normal conversation was impossible. Right now he was speaking to Simon in low tones. Probably trying to recruit him to stay. The whole medical exam thing was probably just a scam to get a real doctor out here. "So you don't have very many doctors out here?"

"We ain't got any doctors out here. My Mama died while birthin' my little brother. We lost him too. Cecilia over there lost her husband to some kinda lung infection last year. By the time we got him to the Emerald City he was dead. She had to move in with her dad. Nearly every family out here has the same kinda story. Yeah, we're trying to steal Zachary away from you. All's fair in love and war."

Kaylee sobered. Life was hard out in these parts. She glanced over at Mr. Kirby. "So you're building a hospital with no doctors?"

"We've got a girl in medical school on Ariel, Soon Yin Wong, the whole county pitched in to send her there. But she won't graduate for another four years."

Kaylee concentrated on her food. She knew Simon would love to stay here if it weren't for the whole thing about River and being hunted by The Alliance. He and River might be able to stay here a while. It was pretty isolated out here. But sooner or later somebody would recognize them. And the money was just too good.

After supper they gathered in the living room Cecilia began playing a song on the organ and singing with a nice soprano voice. "She's very good." Mr. Kirby mentioned to Kaylee. "She plays every Sunday in church."

"That must be nice." She replied. "What does she play?"

"I dunno. Me and Poly go to a different church."

"May I?" Simon pointed to Sebastian's view screen. He wanted to call the ship and check up on River.

"Sure!"

Simon attempted to call the ship only to get a burst of static. "It's another one of those blasted ion storms." Sebastian said. "They play hell with communications."

"How long will this last?"

"Anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. It hardly ever lasts more than a week though. The government in The Emerald City's even talking about running cables on poles out to all the settlements. Of course they'd been talking about it for nearly seventy five years now!"

Just then Wilson Strober came in the door. He looked like he was in his early twenties with a rough mop of reddish hair. He smiled shyly at Kaylee then went into the kitchen to get what's left of the feast. Simon decided then to start on the exams inside one of the bedrooms starting with Cecilia's children. While he was out Cecilia came over to where Kaylee was standing. "Your Doctor Smith is very handsome. Is he a good man?"

Kaylee thought about everything Simon had given up for his sister. "He's the best man I've ever known." She then looked over at Cecilia suspiciously. She's probably already sizing up Simon as potential husband and daddy material and they hardly know each other! Everybody's trying to steal Simon away from her! She decided to go out on the back porch for some fresh air. After all that time on the ship and in the ambulance she needed some open sky.

It was good to breath unprocessed air. The night was warm and the stars were out in full force. She noticed Dave sitting at the other end of the porch and thought about chatting with him a bit when she heard someone else come out on the porch.

"Hi Kaylee." It was Gary. Kaylee shut her eyes momentarily in exasperation.

"What do you want, Gary?"

"I guess I went about things the wrong way so let's try again. My place is right over there and I've got thirty five bucks here. It shouldn't take more than thirty to forty five minutes."

"So now you think I'm a whore and a rather cheap one at that!"

"C'mon, everyone knows how you spacers are! If you're really nice to me I'll throw in an extra five bucks!"

Kaylee looked over at Dave but he had gotten up and was walking around to the front of the house. No help there. "Let's get something straight. I only have sex with people I like. I don't like you. I never will like you and I will never have sex with you. Understand?"

"Cocksucker!"

"Sometimes, but never yours!" She strode back inside leaving Gary seething.

Polychrome came up to her with a big smile on her face. "Kaylee! You're staying with me and dad tonight! It's been decided!."

"Where's Sss Zachary staying?"

"He's staying here with the Strobers."

Kaylee sighed. This had to be Sebastian's idea. Separating them again to keep trying to seduce Simon into staying. Oh well. It wasn't often she got to talk with a girl her own age. Inara's too high class to really relate to and Zoe's usually all business and was sometimes downright scary. The Kirbys lived in one of the smaller houses near the big one. She followed Greg and his daughter back leaving Simon with the Strobers.

Polychrome broke out a checkerboard and the two young women started a game. "So what do you do around here?" Kaylee asked.

"I'm a cowgirl slash bookkeeper. I chase cows and handle all the Strober's finances."

"How about Dave and Gary?"

"Dave's a cowboy slash mechanic. He's already approved of your ambulance by the way. Gary's a cowboy slash scary-guy-with-a-gun." Kaylee nodded. Out on the fringe worlds a lot of business was carried out with the help of scary people with guns. When Malcolm went to a "Business meeting," He usually took Jayne and Zoe with him. He almost never took Kaylee, Wash, or Book with him. There was that one time he took Wash and everyone knows how that turned out.

"So what's it like being a spacer?" Polychrome put her hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

"It's OK. It's not offensive except the way Gary says it. But if you like you can call me an 'Astronaut'."

"Astronaut, star sailor, I like that. Kaylee the astronaut! So what's it like?"

"Cramped quarters and bad food. But you get to travel to all these different worlds. I love it!"

Polychrome grinned. "So what's going on between you and the young handsome Doctor Smith?"

It took Kaylee a moment to remember who Doctor Smith was. "Nothing at the moment. I have my hopes but he has some family problems at the moment he's trying to work through. How about you? Do you have a fella?"

Polychrome blushed. "Yeah, the guy who runs the general store in Sasebo, Joshua Van Dyne, he's always asking me over to help with his books but I know he doesn't need any help! If he doesn't pop the question in the next month or so I will!" Both girls giggled. "Not much going on here at the Flying S. Wilson's got a fiancée, The oldest boy Bobby's off at the university. David's a wuss and Gary's pretty good looking but he's a hwoon dahn! He seems to think girls go for the bad boy and some do, but I don't." Kaylee smiled. Gary wasn't bad looking and she might have given him a tumble if he wasn't such a total jerk.

"So Kaylee, tonight you get my bed and I'll sleep on the floor."

"No! I can't take your bed! I'll sleep on the floor!"

"I insist! I used to play on the Snapdragon when I was a kid. I've seen the crews quarters! Tonight for one night and one night only Kaylee the astronaut will take a nice hot bath or hot shower or maybe both using all the water she wants. She will sleep in a nice big soft bed. And she will enjoy it!

"Oh alright!"

That night after both a bath and a shower Kaylee lay in Polychrome's bed It was so big! And so soft! She spread her arms and legs out. So much room! There was one thing she missed though. Back home she had Serenity to sing her to sleep at night.

Sebastian Strober was checking though old dispatches. There was something nagging at him. Back at the derelict Kaylee called Dr. Smith "Simon." It brought up an old half forgotten memory. There it was! A wanted notice for Dr. Simon Tam and his sister River Tam. That was Dr. Zachary Smith all right. The sister looked young and pretty. Not much more than a child. Vague charges of kidnapping and treason. The reward was huge. With that kind of money he could open a first class hospital and hire the finest doctors. Really help the people in the area. Sebastian stroked his beard and smiled.

And in the hills surrounding the cluster of buildings eyes were watching. They were gathering the family together.


	5. Pick One

**Snapdragon**

**Chapter 5**

**Pick One**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Simon, Kaylee, or anybody else from Firefly. I think owning people is just wrong. Didn't we fight a war over this once? And I would like to thank Edenfalls81 for the nice review.**

Kaylee woke up bright and early. Breakfast was over at the Strober house and consisted last night's leftovers warmed up. Kaylee ended up seated in "The Seat of Honor," again way down the table from Simon.

Simon was worried, he still hadn't been able to contact the ship and he had no idea how River was doing. Other than that he was delighted to be on solid ground just being a doctor and helping people. These people were for the most part healthy. Sebastian seemed to be a bit obsessed about good health and sanitation which wasn't really a bad thing. Sebastian had seated Cecilia right next to Simon and he found her a witty charming woman. She might need an orthodontist for the overbite but on second thought, no. The overbite was part of her charm. She was well educated and very intelligent. They had spent most of the night just talking.

Kaylee kept glancing down the table at them. From the bits she could hear, they seemed to be talking about how The Alliance had gobbled up more territory than it could effectively govern in the war and how imperial overreach had led to the fall of the Roman, Persian, and British Empires. She wished she could join in but she didn't know squat about all those empires and would just end up sounding like a dumb hick backworlder. She wished she was smart too.

She shook her head. She shouldn't be jealous. She can talk to Simon anytime she likes. It's not like he's going to stay or anything and he probably likes a chance to meet someone new once in a while.

"I'll be going to the ship with you." Polychrome told her. "While your up inside it doing your thing I'll be fixing my barbequed pork ribs with my Mama's secret family sauce."

Kaylee smiled. "Mmmm, that sounds good. Only you don't call a ship 'it' you call it 'her'."

"So ships are girls?"

"Yes, all ships are girls, there aren't any boy ships."

"How sad." Both girls chuckled.

"Every ship has it's own personality." Kaylee told her. "No two ships are exactly alike. Space ships, water ships it makes no difference."

"So what's Serenity's personality like?"

"Serenity's a sweet old lady. She's gotten to an age where things start to break down. I'm like her doctor. I know what every little creak and vibration means. It's how she talks to me. How she lets me know if something's wrong. She knows she's loved and she loves us back and tries to take care of us the best way she knows how."

"You talk like she was a person."

"Ships are people if you understand them." She then thought of poor old Snapdragon. "But some people don't, even some spacers."

After breakfast Kaylee pushed her heavy cart and toolbox to the hover truck and put it in the back. Polychrome put a portable barbeque grill and a basket in with it. David was already in the driver's seat.

Gary came strolling up and opened the front passenger door for Kaylee giving her a mocking bow. She ignored him as she climbed in. He shut the door and waited until Polychrome got in the back then strode around to the driver's door and opened it.

"Get out Dave! I'm driving!" He grabbed David's collar and pulled it none too gently.

"OK." David didn't put up a fight. He got into the back with Polychrome. Gary got in the driver's seat next to Kaylee. She started to unbuckle her seat restraints but he started the hover truck moving before she could do anything.

"Fahng sheen, bao bei. I'll take care of everything!" He headed out to the Snapdragon at a leisurely twenty miles an hour. "Your doctor friend sure talks fancy. Is he a fag?"

Kaylee snorted. "No."

"Well last night he shoved his finger up my butt! That's the kinda thing that fags do!"

"No, that's the kinda thing that doctors do. He was checking your prostrate."

"Well he talks like he's from one of the core worlds and if he's such a great doctor why's he ridin' around on your go-se ship?" Gary grinned. "I bet they must have caught him stickin' his finger up some little kid's butt and took away his gorram doctoring license." Kaylee kept quiet. She didn't like talking about the Tams with strangers. She was afraid she might slip up and say too much.

Gary continued. "How'd you like it if I told Mr. Strober that your fag doctor stuck his finger up my butt?"

"Go ahead!" She didn't really care what this ignoramus thought. After today she'll never see him again.

"So Kaylee, you like having things shoved up your butt?" Kaylee stared out the window gritting her teeth. Anger was boiling inside her. Fortunately they got to the Snapdragon before she lost her temper.

Polychrome was setting up the barbeque as Kaylee got the cart and toolbox out. "Good barbeque takes hours to prepare." Poly said. "The secret it low and slow. Low temperature and slow cooking with constant basting. It should be ready by the time you get your thingie out of the ship."

"Yeah, that's good. 'Cause it's going to take quite a while to get the scrubber out."

Dave raised his hand. "I can help . . ." Kaylee noticed Gary locked eyes with Dave and barely shook his head. ". . .Poly with the food." He finished nervously.

Kaylee sighed. She figured Gary probably wanted her to ask him for help, it wasn't going to happen. She'll take that scrubber out all by herself. She pushed the cart and toolbox into the ship.

It was hot inside. The cargo bay had to be over ninety degrees. She left the cart there and took her toolbox and cable hoist upstairs to the second deck. Along the way she checked the beams for good places to attach the battery powered hoist. She would need it to hoist the cart up here and to take the scrubber down. If the guys were helping it wouldn't be a problem but while she did have quite a bit of wiry muscle she was still a girl and a not very big one at that. Kaylee learned at a very early age that she would never become as strong as her father and brothers. She remembered how when she was eight her daddy found her trying to drag an engine block across the floor. "Work smarter Kaylee! Not harder! God gave boys all the muscles to make up for their lack of brains!" He then taught her about leverage, pulleys, counterweights and other tricks and devices to make things easier.

The engine room was even hotter than the cargo bay. It had to be well over a hundred degrees in there. The hot sun was beating down upon the unventilated metal ship. She wiped her sweaty forehead on her sleeve and examined the scrubber. All this ductwork would have to be cut away. She put on her goggles and pulled out her cutting torch.

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"For the most part you seem pretty healthy." Simon told Sebastian. "I'm a little worried about that irregular heartbeat though. It's not an immediate problem but you really should go to the city and get it taken care of."

"So there's nothing you can do about it Simon?"

"No, you really need a pacemaker and I don't happen to have one." Simon caught himself.

"Yes Doctor Tam, I know who you are. Now don't look so frightened. I sell cows, not friends! I don't know what you and your sister did to piss off the Alliance so much but they're not my buddies and I won't be their messenger boy." He shook his head. "I have to admit it was tempting. I could do a lot of good with that kinda money but you can't accomplish good by doing evil! You've taught me that I can resist the Tempter and I thank you. I also understand why you can't stay and I'll quit trying to talk you into it."

"Mom! Dad! We've got visitors!" Cecilia's voice sounded through the door.

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The scrubber was held on the deck by four large bolts. They looked a little rusty so Kaylee put some penetrating oil on them tapping them gently with a hammer to help it get through the threads. She decided to sit and rest while the oil soaked through. She took a few swallows from her water bottle and her hand gently caressed the hull. Poor Snapdragon! Her crew didn't love her and just left her here to die. To be picked apart and eaten by vultures. And one of those vultures was Kaylee Frye. "Sorry old girl, but even vultures have to eat." On impulse she pressed her ear against the warm hull. Not a sound. Snapdragon will never sing again. River was right. Love is what makes ships sing. Kaylee hooked the hoist to the scrubber and began working on the bolts.

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The West family always dressed for meals whenever possible as proper ladies and gentlemen should. After breakfast Mabel changed out of her fancy blue velvet dress and put on a plainer one. She dropped her diamond tiara into her pink backpack along with her bag of traveling money. She wanted them to look as non threatening as possible. The group will consist of herself and the two girls Morgan and Guinevere along with baby Arthur young Aglovale and Gawain who was somewhat smaller and thinner than his brothers. Lancelot and Percival will remain behind with the hoversled. They got on their horses and rode down the hill toward the farmhouse. As they approached, the door opened and a man stepped out holding a shotgun in a non threatening manner. "Guinevere, we need the baby crying." Mabel whispered

"Yes mother." Guinevere pulled out her dagger and discreetly poked the baby in the ribs until it started bawling. She then pulled a sand burr off her pants leg and slipped it under the baby's back to keep it irritated.

"Howdy there! I'm the foreman here! How can I help you nice people!"

"Sorry to bother you! We're new in these parts! Can you tell us how to get to Sasebo?! The baby's sick. He's running a fever and hasn't eaten in two days!"

A woman came to the door. "Oh the poor little thing!" Mabel looked her over with contempt. Some ugly bucktoothed hillbilly woman. No better than the dozen or so other stupid low class hick women she had been forced to kill. She tried to put on an expression of concern.

"Can we water our horses and fill our canteens at your well? We're all out of water."

Cecilia looked at the sun. Like most frontier people she was somewhat wary of strangers but it was two hours by horseback to Sasebo and on a hot day like this the baby could die before they got there. Besides they seemed harmless enough. "Come on inside. We have a doctor here who can look at the baby."

The inside of the house was much cooler than the outside. Guinevere approached Cecilia "Here, can you hold him for a minute?"

"Sure," Cecilia cradled the squalling baby in her arms. "Oh! Poor little boy, he's so cute!"

Greg Kirby was watching Cecilia and Guinevere. He didn't notice Morgan slip up behind him. She slammed a sap into the back of his head stunning him and making him drop the shotgun. Cecilia saw Gawain drawing a pistol. As a frontierswoman she had her own pistol strapped to her hip but couldn't draw it without dropping the baby on the hard floor. The momentary hesitation was just enough for Gawain to shove his gun under her chin and move behind her. Wilson came out of the kitchen drawing his own pistol only to find his half sister holding a baby with a man behind her holding a gun to her head.

"Put your gun down or I'll blow her gorram head off!"

"OK! OK!" Wilson slowly lowered his pistol to the floor.

Aglovale West cuffed Wilson's hands behind his back then picked up the pistol and slammed the butt into his ribs. Wilson grunted in pain. The boy grinned.

Ellen Strober was watching the kids in the dining room. She heard the commotion and tried to call for help on the vidscreen only to get more static. "Mayday! Mayday! This is Flying S! We're under attack!"

The door flew open revealing Guinevere with a sawed off double barrel shotgun. "Looks like you're having technical problems Ma'am. Please shut that thing off and bring the children into the sitting room."

When the children entered the room the first thing they saw was their mother handcuffed to a chair. They ran over. "Mommy! What's happening!"

Cecelia told them. "Be brave and do whatever these people say to do. Understand?" They nodded. "Now Oscar, you're the oldest. Make sure Dot and Billy behave themselves."

Oscar, who was only ten, nodded again. "OK Mom."

When he heard that he had visitors, Sebastian put his shirt back on. He opened the door only to find Mabel West pointing a pistol at his chest. "Will the two of you please come into the sitting room with me?" She asked politely. Simon followed Sebastian into the sitting room where the whole family was cuffed and sitting in chairs brought in from the dining room Gawain expertly patted them down before seating them in a pair of chairs and cuffing their hands and ankles. Sebastian was seated next to his wife while Simon was next to the three children. About that time two more men came in the front door.

"Mother, the baby's still crying. What should I do?" Guinevere asked

"Put him out on the back porch and shut the door so we won't have to listen to him."

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company!?" Sebastian growled to Mabel, she seemed to be the leader.

Mabel stared him straight in the eye. "First of all we're not bad people. We're good people who are force to do bad things temporarily. I am going to ask you some questions. Every time you give an unsatisfactory answer something bad will happen. We know you have a large sum of cash somewhere. Please tell me where it is."

"That's not my money! The whole county pitched in to build a hospital. It took us thirty years to save that much up!"

"I don't need no hospital!" Lancelot chuckled. "I'm not sick!"

Mabel glared at him. "You just used a double negative! A proper gentleman would never use a double negative! You say 'I don't need any hospital.' A double negative merely cancels itself!" She then turned to Cecilia. "Pick out one of your children. Perhaps one that you don't like as much as the rest." Gawain pulled her to her feet and took out his Bowie knife.

"No! Please!" Sebastian shouted. "The money's hidden in a derelict spaceship four miles south of here!"

"Thank you." Mabel said. "But it's too late. You gave an unsatisfactory answer and I always keep my word. Ma'am, please pick one."

Sebastian and Wilson both strained at their cuffs Sebastian's face reddened. "No, no."

"Shut your eyes kids." Simon whispered. "Don't open your eyes no matter what happens."

Cecilia Kellogg took a last look at her children. Her breathing was ragged and tears flowed freely. She then locked eyes with Mabel. "Me!"

"Have it your way." Mabel nodded at the grinning Gawain who put his palm on Cecilia's forehead yanking her head back. He twisted her to the left before drawing his blade deeply across her throat. The blood sprayed out onto his sister, Morgan.

Ellen and Morgan both screamed. Ellen with horror and Morgan with disgust. Sebastian gave out a strangled sobbing wail as if his soul was being ripped out. Gawain, still grinning pushed the limp body contemptuously forward onto the floor. Morgan was dripping with blood. "Mother! Did you see what he did!"

"It was an accident Mother. She twisted at the last second." Gawain said.

Mabel scowled at him. "She did not! How many times have I told you that a polite, well mannered gentleman never sprays people with blood?! Apologize to your sister!"

"I'm sorry."

"Morgan, go wash up." Simon stared at them with shock and horror. These people were mad. Stark raving mad.

Mabel turned back to Sebastian. "Now where is the money located in the ship?"

"Cargo hold, port side aft inside the bulkhead. I found a cubbyhole and welded it shut. If you don't know where it is you'd have to rip the whole ship apart to find it." He then glared at her with teary eyes. "You'll burn in Hell for this!"

"No we won't, all our sins will be forgiven. 'Though your sins are as scarlet I will make them white as snow.'"

Sebastian shook his head. "There's a sin called presumption. Sooner or later you'll discover that there's more to it than mumbling a few words every time you slit some poor girl's throat. I hope it's sooner rather than later!"

"Enough!" Mabel shouted. "Do you have any people at the ship?"

"Four."

Mabel nodded. She had seen four people heading south that morning. A good answer. "Morgan, stay here and watch the prisoners. Shoot them if they try anything. The rest of us will go to the ship."

Simon felt dread, horror and helplessness. They were going after Kaylee. She was completely defenseless against these monsters. He had no doubt that they intended to slaughter everybody before they were done.


	6. The Cowardly Lion of Oz

**Snapdragon**

**Chapter 6**

**The Cowardly Lion of Oz**

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Kaylee wiped her sweaty brow on her sleeve and grinned. The CO2 scrubber was now sitting on the engine room deck. All she had to do now was get the cart and haul it out. Kaylee unhooked the clamps holding the power hoist to the I beam in the overhead slung it over her shoulder and picked up her flashlight. First thing though would be to take a break. The ribs should be done by now and Polychrome had mentioned serving them with lemonade made with real lemons! Lemons didn't grow on Kaylee's home world and she'd never had real lemonade. She'd always considered herself lucky to get the powdered stuff and the prospect of having some of the real stuff was making her giddy with excitement.

On the way back she stopped and clamped the hoist to a pre selected I beam and lowered the hook down to the cargo hold deck. She then trotted down the stairs and skipped to the open personnel door.

………………………………...

"Mother, I only see three people down there." Lancelot remarked.

"I saw four leave this morning." Mabel scowled down at the derelict spaceship. " Two boys and two girls. There must be a girl still inside the ship. We'll go ahead and finish these off and get her later."

"That girl down there is awful pretty." Gawain said lowering his binoculars.

"We don't have time for you to indulge in your foul lusts!" Mable snapped. "We have a job to do! Try thinking with your brains instead of your balls for a change!" The foul things her sons did to women they captured disgusted her. But boys will be boys. At least they always killed them and burned the bodies when they were finished so there weren't any bastards running around the place. And otherwise they might end up pleasuring themselves which was an abomination. She looked at the ship and smiled a thin smile. A few more jobs like this one and they will become well established in high society and will never have to sin again.

Percival was taking careful aim at one of the three figures when Aglovale jostled him. The shot went wide.

"Watch it Aglovale!"

"Guinevere pushed me!"

"He pulled my hair!"

"Did not!"

"Children hush! See what horseplay gets you?! Now they're scurrying around like roaches! Everybody! Open fire!"

………………………………...

Kaylee heard the first shot just as she got to the doorway and stopped immediately. She saw Gary react first, unslinging his rifle, scanning the hills around the ship, moving constantly. Dave was dashing for the hovertruck and Polychrome was running for the doorway. Gary spotted something and ducked behind an evergreen taking careful aim and firing at the hillside. Dave got to the hovertruck and started it.

"Dave! Move the truck between Poly and the hill! Cover her!" Gary shouted as bullets rained down on them.

Dave took off full speed in the opposite direction toward a gap in the cliff where a stream flowed out.

"Come back you gorram coward!" Gary shouted as he kept firing into the hillside.

Kaylee watched Gary. He wasn't spraying bullets randomly but carefully aiming each shot. Standing his ground. Covering Polychrome's retreat. In spite of her strong dislike for the man she felt a tinge of admiration for his coolness and courage under fire. Then he gave a loud grunt and dropped his rifle. Clutching his chest, he fell over and lay still.

Polychrome was racing to the door. "Hurry!" Kaylee screamed. She was almost there when a fine red mist erupted from her head. Polychrome tumbled to the ground three yards short. Something had blown the top of her head off and her brains spilled out into the dirt.

Kaylee screamed. She flung herself inside and pressed her back against the warm cargo bay doors sobbing and weeping. She'd never been this scared in her life. This was worse than Niska's station. There she had friends. Here she was utterly alone. Close the door! Weld it shut! But she couldn't move. She was paralyzed with fear as the tears flowed down her cheeks. Gotta do this! Summoning all her will power, her shaking hands fumbled at the hand welder clipped to her belt as she glanced out the door. And stopped. She saw movement. Gary was clawing at the ground trying to find cover. He was still alive! Kaylee was torn with terror and indecision. She didn't like Gary. She was pretty sure she hated him. But still, she couldn't just leave him to die out there, alone in the dirt.

Kaylee glanced up the hillside. She could see the bandits riding their horses down the rugged slope. Now was her chance. She knew that accurate shooting from the back of a moving horse was very difficult. "Always have something steady under your feet whenever you're shooting someone." Zoe once told Malcolm shaking her finger at him. She and Jayne were laughing about a time when Mal almost killed himself during the war doing something incredibly heroic and stupid. Kaylee knew she was anything but heroic. Her heart was pounding so hard hit felt like it was about to burst. She was gasping for breath and shaking like a leaf. She tried to swallow but couldn't. It was as if she'd forgotten how. Gary was about fifty feet away but it looked like a mile. Don't think about it! Do it!

Kaylee hurled herself out the door and sprinted over to Gary. She could hear shouts of surprise from the hillside but didn't look. She skidded to a stop next to him, grabbed his left wrist, and heaved. He was gorram heavy! She could hear shots being fired and bullets whistling past her. Kaylee whimpered in terror as she kept dragging Gary toward the door. Her every instinct screamed for her to drop the hwoon dahn and get back inside. But she couldn't just leave him to die. The doorway didn't seem to be getting any closer. Half crazed with fear she kept pulling and pulling. Then a white hot lance of pain went though her left thigh.

Kaylee screamed and fell. Her mouth was full of dirt she was trying to cough out and her right hand was in something warm and wet. She looked over at it.

Her hand was mashed into Poly's brains. Her friend's cold dead eyes were staring into hers.

Something snapped. "UH! UH! UH! UH!" For a brief moment Kaylee was teetering on the ragged edge of madness.

"_Come back Kaylee, please come back. Trust me, insanity isn't all it's cracked up to be."_

Kaylee blinked and shook her head. She was lying in the dirt in front of the doorway. People were shooting at her! She grabbed Gary's wrist and heaved. Pain shot through her leg with every pull. She dragged him through the doorway then slammed the door shut. Her hands fumbled at the small hand welder on her belt. She tried to feed the wire from her belt reel into it but her hands were shaking too bad. Kaylee pressed her hands against the door to steady them. When she finally got the wire in she pulled her goggles up from around her neck and began welding the door shut sealing them both inside. As the metal melted and flowed together she felt a little safer. Kaylee considered herself a bit of an artist which extended to her mechanical abilities. She usually took great pride in how nice her welds were. Not this time. This weld was fast, sloppy and ugly. When she got to the bottom of the door Kaylee fell to her knees and vomited. She kept heaving until her stomach was empty. A couple of more dry heaves and she was finished. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve and took a swig of warm water from her bottle.

All she wanted to do now was lay there and be miserable but there wasn't any time. Gary was hurt! She crawled over to him. He had a bullet hole in his chest under his right nipple. Foaming blood was leaking out. She checked his back and found an exit wound, more foaming blood. His lung was punctured. "I'm sorry! I don't know what to do!"

He stared up at her with pain glazed eyes. "I . . . do." His voice was barely a whisper. "Air. . .tight bandage. . . . Has to let. . . air out . . . .but not . . .in. Lay me. . . on bad side."

Monodirectional air valves. Something she can understand. Kaylee pulled a pack of cigarettes from Gary's shirt pocket. She peeled the cellophane off and tossed the pack off into the darkness. "Don't look at me like that! You got holes in your lung! You ain't gonna be smokin' anytime soon!"

………………………………...

"Ma! That gawdam sombitch shot me!" Lancelot wailed clutching his bleeding right forearm.

Mabel strode up to him and slapped him across the face hard. "How many times have I told you not to take the Lord's name in vain!?" She snarled. "And don't call me 'Ma' like you were some ignorant hick! You refer to me as 'Mother'!"

"Guess you need a hospital after all!" Guinevere laughed.

Mabel scowled down at the ship and the two bodies laying in front of it. "What a wicked thing to do! Shooting at a gentleman for no reason at all! God will punish him for this! Don't worry son. After we get the money we'll have that nice doctor back at the ranch fix you up before we dispose of him. Now mount up! I'll take the grav sled around and meet you down there!"

"What about that guy who got away?" Perceval asked.

Mabel consulted a topographic map in her reader. "That's a blind canyon! Lot's of branches and twists but that's the only exit. He didn't go in there to escape, he went in there to hide! It'll take over an hour to search the place. We'll get him after we get the money!"

As they rode down the slope Gawain was the first to notice a woman run out of the ship. "She's trying to get away!" It was awkward getting their rifles out of saddle holsters and back slings. After they opened fire the horses kept shying at every loud noise.

"I got her!" Aglovale shouted with glee as she fell.

"Not nearly enough!" Gawain yelled as she got back up a moment later and pulled the guy though the door.

By the time they got to the ship the door was shut. Perceval tried to push it open. "Oww!" He yelled yanking his hand back. Blisters were already forming on his palm and fingers. "That door's gorram hot!"

"Bitch must have welded it shut." Guinevere was grinning at her brother's pain.

"Hey look!" Gawain shouted "They fixed us ribs and lemonade!"

………………………………...

Malcolm hefted the cloth bag. It had a most satisfying weight and jingle to it. "Looks like we got a deal Mrs. James. Serenity's on dock eight."

The elderly woman sitting across the table from him pressed her fingertips together and smiled. "We'll need to begin loading the cargo immediately, Captain Reynolds. It's very perishable."

"That shouldn't be a problem." Mal noticed Zoe had moved to the corner and was speaking softly into her comm unit with a concerned look on her face. Must be another crisis. His life seemed to be one crisis after another. Jayne was just grinning greedily at the bag in his hand.

Zoe put her comm unit away. "Something wrong? Malcolm asked.

She glanced at Mrs. James. "It's Inara, she says Jeanette's acting up again, saying weird things."

"Like what?"

"Something about how the Cowardly Lion is hurt and terrified. It doesn't know how brave it really is. The Wicked Witch of the West has it trapped. The Tin Man wants to help it but he can't move. He's all rusty."

Malcolm's brow furrowed, then he stood up and tossed the bag of coins back across the table to Mrs. James. "I'm sorry Ma'am. Something personal's come up and I need the ship immediately."

"So do I. If we don't start loading immediately I'll have to find another ship."

"You do that." Malcolm was already walking out the door. Jayne was just standing there with a stunned look on his face. "Maybe we can do business some other time."

Outside, Malcolm and Zoe were taking long, fast strides. Jayne had to double step to catch up with him. "Cap'n! That was a great job! Six containers of peaches for St. Albans! You know how much peaches go for there?! A lot! You know how much my share woulda been?! Ten percent of a lot!"

"I'm sorry but somethin's come up."

"They were gonna toss in a couple of crates for the crew!" Jayne was finding it hard to talk. The thought of all those peaches made his mouth choke with saliva. "It would have filled our whole cargo hold! When's the last time it was completely full? You're throwing it away just because River's acting crazy! Babbling nonsense!"

"It's not nonsense! It makes perfect sense." Malcolm thought for a few seconds. "Well not perfect sense but I got the gist of it."

"But River's crazy! She's as crazy as. . .as . . .a girl who's really crazy! That's her job! Being crazy!"

"Why are we still discussing something that's already been decided?! When we get back to the ship get your guns ready. There might be a bit of trouble."

Zoe smiled. "You might get to shoot somebody. You like shooting people don't you?"

Jayne shook his head in frustration. "I don't like shooting people! I like shooting people and then getting paid!"

Back at the ship they found River up on the bridge with Inara and Wash. River was sitting in the corner staring blankly at the wall. "Why's she on the bridge?" Mal asked.

"She insisted on coming up here but now she's just sitting here. Sometimes her lips move a little as if she's saying something but we can't seem to communicate with her." Inara sounded concerned.

"Here, let me." Shepherd Book stepped onto the bridge. "I can read lips. Maybe I can tell what she's trying to say."

"They teach lip reading at the monastery?" Malcolm sounded suspicious.

"Yes they did. Some brothers took a vow of silence. Now hush! She's starting again." Book's brow furrowed at he watched the slight movement of her lips. "It looks like she said 'Smell the gun'."

"Smell the gun!?" Jayne shouted. "That don't make a lick of sense! What'd I tell ya?! Crazy!"

"We're now cleared for takeoff!" Wash announced. The engines roared as Serenity took off into the sky. As the ground dropped away Wash asked. "So where're going?"

"The Flying S Ranch! Fast as we're able."

"OK Boss! So where exactly is the Flying S Ranch?"

Mal got a puzzled look on his face. He looked over at Zoe who shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

………………………………...

"We'll have to use the cutting torch." Mabel said, scowling angrily at the door. "Percival!? What's keeping you?"

"Doesn't this thing have an instruction manual?" Percival was back at the hover sled. Mabel rolled her eyes.

"Mother, I think I could squeeze through one of these holes." Young Aglovale spoke up.

Mabel put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm proud of you son. Just be careful and don't screw around. Just shoot the bitch."

………………………………...

Kaylee checked her work. Cellophane over the bullet wounds, duct taped on three sides. Every time Gary inhaled it sucked the cellophane against the wounds shutting them off. Air still escaped when he exhaled. She then checked her own thigh. It was bleeding but the bullet seemed to have missed the bone and the big leg artery. It hurt like Hell. This was the second time Kaylee's been shot and she decided that she didn't like being shot at all. She took off her work shirt and cut it into strips. She poured some alcohol from Gary's hip flask on the wound, folded one strip into a pad and used another strip to tie it firmly into place. Then wiped her hands on her T-shirt and looked at the door. The paint was starting to scorch and blister. They have a cutting torch. Isn't that just wonderful?

Kaylee took Gary's six gun from his holster, transferred it to her tool belt and heaved him onto the cart. It had two shelves on separate levels. Gary fitted rather poorly on the lower level with his legs dragging on the deck. Kaylee immediately discarded the idea of taking him to sickbay. Mr. Strober probably stripped out everything but the paint on the walls. She decided on the engine room. It had an airtight door and was a far from this place as possible. Besides it was the closest thing she had to home.

She wheeled him to the aft end of the cargo bay and attached the slings to the hook of the hoist. She pressed the up button and watched him rise up into the air. Then the loud crack of a gunshot and a bullet whipped inches past her head. Kaylee gave a loud yelp of fear and limped franticaly into the passenger lounge firing four shots blindly into the dark. She heard bullets hitting the door as she pushed it shut. Her throat made a choking sound and her hands were shaking. She didn't know what to do. Kaylee shut her eyes tightly.

_Kaylee was standing outside surrounded by cornfields with wooden fences. The sun was shining brightly and fluffy clouds drifted in the clear blue skies. She was standing on a narrow, one lane road paved with yellow bricks of all things. How did she get here? Where was here? Where was Snapdragon?_

"_Kaylee." A voice called her name from somewhere behind her. She brought the pistol up holding it with both hands and spun around. There was a scarecrow out in the cornfield, hanging on a pole, dressed all in blue with a big blue floppy hat. She approached it cautiously clumsily holding the pistol in trembling hands. The scarecrow raised its head revealing its face. It was a feminine scarecrow with familiar grinning elfin features. _

"_River? Is that you? Are you inside my head?"_

"_Don't be silly, Kaylee!" The scarecrow replied. "People can't go into other people's heads. It's bad! It's wrong! THEY DON'T BELONG THERE!" The scarecrow squeezed its eyes shut and took a couple of deep breaths shuddering. "I'm just a figment of your imagination. I'm here to help you."_

"_I don't know what to do River. I'm scared. I'm really scared. I've got. . ." She cracked open the cylinder. "Two shots left. I don't know anything about guns. Gary's hanging out there like a piñata. He's helpless and I can't do anything."_

"_It's ok to be scared Kaylee, I know you have the heart of a lion."_

"_Then I must be a pretty cowardly lion." For some reason the scarecrow smiled at that. "I'm no good with guns. Somebody's trying to kill me."_

"_Look at the gun." The scarecrow told her. " Move your hand over it. It's steel and plastic. Hold it up to your nose. Smell the gun. Breath deeply. That smell is oil. It's a friendly smell, a good smell, It's just steel, plastic, oil and chemicals. You've seen them clean their guns. You know how they work Moving metal parts sliding together, chemical reactions. It's a tool. You're very good with tools. I can help you a little." _

Kaylee opened her eyes. The gun felt heavy in her trembling hand. She had to do something.


	7. The Scarecrow of Oz

**The Scarecrow of Oz**

**Snapdragon**

**Chapter 7**

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Disclaimer: Yes! I own Firefly! Really I do! The DVDs are all so shiny and pretty and they snap right into the boxes. I just don't own the rights to the characters. That's all. I guess I do own the ones I made up for this story. Big deal.

"Mother I think I can get inside to help Aglovale." Gawain declared looking up the starboard landing skid."

Someone had taken a hydraulic actuator out leaving a hole that might go deeper into the ship.

"Oh very well!" Mabel was exasperated. This thing was taking far too long. The bullet had broken a bone in Lancelot's forearm rendering him next to useless. They'll have to make the doctor fix it before they could finish off the people back at the ranch which will use up more time. They will have to waste even more time hunting for the fellow who hid in the canyon. And to top it all off, that gorram stupid hillbilly bitch welded the door shut and apparently none of her children knew how to use a cutting torch. She had always raised them not to perform manual labor because after they became rich society folk they would have servants to do that for them. But right now a few basic skills would be useful.

Gawain clambered up the landing skid and tried to squeeze into the hole. His gunbelt caught so he backed out and took it off. He considered dragging it behind him but decided that it would make too much noise. Besides he always worked much better with his knife. He clenched his Bowie knife in his teeth and squeezed into the hole.

………………………………...

Kaylee quickly limped up the stairs to the mess deck. Her eyes watered from the fresh stabs of pain that came from every step she made on her wounded leg. She tried wiping them on a sweaty arm. Walking on the bad leg probably wasn't good for it but she didn't see where she had an option. Kaylee had turned her flashlight off and was moving in near darkness. Fortunately she knew her way around a Firefly in the dark. She hoped whoever was shooting at her didn't. It might be the only edge she had. Kaylee wished she could just run and hide but that wasn't an option either. She had an obligation to protect that slimy bastard Gary.

Another attempt to use her comm unit. More static. Kaylee made it to the aft passageway then made her way to the mess deck then back into the cargo hold. In the dim light she could see Gary still dangling by the catwalk. He seemed to be still alive but she couldn't devote too much attention to him. Down below, someone was shining a flashlight beam around.

………………………………...

"Oh, yes; sit down in that chair please." replied Oz. "You must excuse me for taking your head off, but I shall have to do it in order to put your brains in their proper place."

Mal turned around. What now? River was speaking in a low voice still staring at the wall. He wished Simon was here. The last thing he needed now was for River to go nuts.

River went on. "That's all right," said the Scarecrow. "You are quite welcome to take my head off, as long as it will be a better one when you put it back on again."

"So the Wizard unfastened her head and emptied out the straw. Then he entered the back room and took up a measure of bran, which he mixed with a great many pins and needles. Having shaken them together toughly, he filled the top of the Scarecrow's head with the mixture and stuffed the rest of the space with straw, to hold it in place. When he had fastened the Scarecrow's head on her body again he said to her, 'Hereafter you will be a great woman, for I have given you a lot of bran-new brains'."

River clutched her head with both hands and screamed. "THE WIZARD PUT NEEDLES IN THE SCARECROW'S BRAINS!"

………………………………...

Kaylee crouched on the walkway holding the pistol in her trembling hands. She pointed it at the origin of the flashlight beam and pulled on the trigger.

"_THE WIZARD PUT NEEDLES IN THE SCARECROW'S BRAINS!"_

Kaylee's hands jerked. The shot went wide. The flashlight beam tracked her as she scrambled down the walkway in a panic. A bullet dented the walkway under her knee leaving a small bruise. She lay flat. As long as she lay flat she was safe. The gunman couldn't shoot her. Then she heard feet running up the stairs.

"Help me." She whimpered.

"_The wizard gave the Scarecrow bran-new brains!"_

"I know, it was horrible what he did to you but I need you to focus. They're gonna kill me if you don't."

"_The Scarecrow, she is sorry. Aim for the center of mass. Line up the top of the front sight even with the top of the rear sight. Center it. Take a breath, let half of it out and hold it. Squeeze gently, don't pull it."_ A shot fired over Kaylee's head and back but for some reason she didn't flinch. _"Let the shot surprise you." _The pistol went off in her hand. It sounded like four shots. The figure on the walkway staggered into a shaft of light.

"Lao-tyen boo! It's just a kid!" He slumped over the railing and tumbled onto the cargo deck. Kaylee got up and stumbled over. She looked over at Gary. He was holding a small two shot Derringer which fell from his hand onto the deck. It had to be Gary! She couldn't have killed a kid! She ran down the stairs to where the kid was laying. He was still breathing. His pain glazed eyes looked over at her.

"I can't . . .feel my . . . . legs." He whispered. She found a bullet hole in his chest and tried to press her hands against it, tried to stop the bleeding. "Go to. . . Hell you . . . fuckin' . . . cunt." He whispered.

"I'm losing him! What do I do?!"

"_There's nothing the Lion can do. He bleeding out inside"_

"I've got to do something! He's just a kid!"

"_Sometimes things break and they can't be fixed. The Lion will just have to let him go."_

The boy glared at her as she pressed her hands against the wound. Tears left streaks on her dirty cheeks. "You're going . . . to die in . . . .here bitch. You . . . . and your friend. . . . You're going to . . ." He stopped breathing.

Kaylee gently shut his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Kaylee picked up his pistol it was empty and she dropped it. So was Gary's revolver. She dropped it too. It wasn't just a tool. It was more than just a machine. She limped back up the stairs and pulled Gary and the cart onto the walkway. Then pushed him through the dark mess deck down the hall to the engine room.

As Kaylee started to swing the door shut her flashlight beam hit a gauge and she froze. It was a old fashioned backup mechanical gauge for when the electronics went out. Her brow furrowed as she limped over to it and tapped it. It remained steady. Kaylee got an idea. It wasn't a good idea. It was a horrible idea. Downright idiotic. But right now she was all out of good ideas. She looked around the engine room. She might be able to do it. Why not? The old girl might still have a little life left in her. But first she'll have to go back to the cargo deck. She didn't have much time either.

Gary moaned as she pulled him off the cart and laid him up next to the hull. "I'm gonna have to leave you for a few minutes. I'll be back as soon as I can." She then bumped the cart over the knee breaker and left him in total darkness.

Kaylee took the cart back to the cargo hold as quickly as she could. She attached it to the hoist which was still hanging in there and lowered it to the deck. She then made her way down quickly and looked at the personnel door. They had cut about halfway through it. Apparently they didn't know how to use a cutting torch. It seems they also wanted to walk in upright instead of using a crawl hole. That's good. It buys her a little time. She quickly collected a bunch of cargo straps that were still hanging on the bulkheads. Fortunately, no one thought they were worth stealing. Oh! A cargo net! Get that too! She began rolling up the dirty mattresses and securing them with the straps. She managed to get two of them on the cart along with the cargo net. The other three she dragged behind her attached to a strap over her left shoulder.

"_Humans evolved pain as a danger avoidance mechanism. Pain saves the body from damage and death.. We are born in pain and we die in pain. But scarecrows don't feel pain. They aren't born and they don't die. They see everything but feel nothing."_

Apparently River was babbling again. Kaylee tried to ignore the voice in her head as she attached the cart to the hoist and hoisted it up to the walkway. She got it safely on the walkway then went back down and hoisted up the three other mattresses. Pushing the cart and dragging the mattresses she made it to the mess deck. She stopped and shined the flashlight on the deck. A few drops of blood led aft to the engine room. That wouldn't do at all. She shined it up forward to the bridge. Maybe a false trail? Kaylee unfastened the strap across her shoulder and pulled the bandage off her leg. She gave a little whimper as she ripped it off. The dried blood came off with the bandage and the blood started leaking again. She then limped up to the bridge leaving a very conspicuous blood trail.

Once Kaylee got to the bridge she didn't do much more than glance around. A lot of equipment had been removed including the computer. She backed out and pulled the door almost shut. Removing the welder from her belt she ran a quick bead inside the door before yanking it shut. A quick push showed that it was welded shut. It wasn't a strong weld but it would do. She also welded the stairway door shut then shut all the hatches to the crews quarters and removed the power pack from her belt. She cut a wire on the door control on the bulkhead and attached it to the power pack. The door control lit up. She punched in a few buttons and locked them all shut. After disconnecting the power pack she put a fresh folded pad from her work shirt over her wound and bound it tightly so it wouldn't bleed. She welded the passageway door shut then buckled up the strap and began pushing and dragging her load back to the engine room.

………………………………...

With a loud clang, the personnel door fell into the ship. Percival went in first tracking the interior with his pistol. Guinevere came in next. "Eww yuck!" She pointed at the puddle of vomit on the deck.

Mabel came in next. "These people are low class and disgusting! No better than animals! Proper ladies and gentlemen always clean up after themselves! Or at least have the servants do it for them!"

Percival looked around. "He said port side aft. What does that mean?"

Guinevere frowned. "It's supposed to be in a bulkhead. I don't see any bulkheads mother."

Mabel scowled. "I was hoping there would be some signs or something. We'll have to go back and get Strober and probably some of the kids too. Guinevere, you and Lancelot watch the outside of the ship and kill anyone who tries to escape. Also keep an eye on the canyon in case the coward comes back."

As Lancelot and Guinevere took up positions on opposite sides of the ship Percival and Mabel cautiously went deeper into the cargo hold. Percival's flashlight picked up a small crumpled figure on the deck.

"Mother, it's Aglovale."

Mabel approached the body of her youngest son. Her feelings of sorrow quickly turned into hatred and rage. That evil bitch murdered her baby in cold blood! For absolutely no reason at all. Just pure wickedness. Mabel was trembling in hatred. She would get her revenge. This complicated things. Now she would have to take that evil bitch alive. She was going to just kill her. Now she was still going to kill her, it would just take a lot longer. A whole lot longer.

………………………………...

Gawain entered the engine room. He turned on his flashlight and shined it around. There was a wounded guy who blinked in the bright light but no woman. He approached the guy and patted him down. No weapons. "Where's the girl?"

"Go to. . . Hell!" He gasped.

Gawain considered slitting the guy's throat but decided against it. He was in a lot of pain. Let him suffer a little longer. He just tied a gag on him and cuffed him for good measure. He couldn't wait to see the look on this guy's face when he brought back his girlfriend's head and showed it to him. Gawain grinned in anticipation.

………………………………...

Kaylee got the cart and mattresses into the aft passageway. Whoever designed these ships sure was stair happy! She then went back to the mess deck and tried to clean up the trail as much as possible, wiping up blood droplets and scattering dust. A few bits of strategically placed dust bunnies and pieces of litter completed the effect. Instead of welding the door to the aft passageway shut she left it slightly ajar. With any luck they'll decide to follow the blood trail though the welded doors.

Kaylee got back to the cart then froze. A man came out of the engine room with a flashlight and set it aside. A thin man with a large Bowie knife which gleamed brightly in the dim light. Kaylee whimpered in terror. She couldn't fight him and she couldn't outrun him. There were no more options. She was trapped.

"Help me." She whispered.

"_I can try to help you but I shouldn't. It's bad! It's wrong! The Scarecrow has never done this before. Lions feel pain, fear, remorse. Scarecrows feel nothing. Pain and fear preserves life but scarecrows feel no pain, they feel no fear."_

"Please."

"_I couldn't, the Lion might get hurt. . . . Might even die."_

Kaylee swallowed, the man was walking slowly toward her talking in a low tone. She couldn't hear what he was saying. The blood was rushing in her ears. "Please, you've got to do whatever you can. Just promise me that if anything bad happens you won't blame yourself. It's my choice."

"_The Scarecrow, do you trust her?"_

"Yes, I trust you."

"_Then shut your eyes and think about how much you trust her._

Gawain set aside his flashlight when he saw the girl. She was pretty and terrified. Just the way he liked them. Usually when he and his brothers caught a woman they made him go last for obvious reasons. No sloppy seconds this time. This one was all his. First he would tie her up then the real fun would begin. Gawain had never had a woman who wasn't tied up and terrified in fear of her life. Never really wanted one. He enjoyed the whimpering, the trembling, the wide eyed terror and sweat as he moved against her holding the knife to her throat and whispering what he would do if she screamed. Then at the moment of release, the deep slash across her throat! Gawain shuddered in anticipation. This was the part he would miss the most when he became an upright, law abiding member of high society. His mother told him that he would get to play polo which sounded like football on horses. It sounded silly and could never compare to a woman's death spasms. Of course there were some women who didn't get scared. Who defied him with hatred and contempt. Some would even spit in his face! He hated those women. He couldn't function and just made it worse for them. But he could see the wide eyed fear and trembling from this this one. He smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just going to tie you up." He said in a low reassuring voice as he walked slowly toward her. She was whispering something in a low voice that he couldn't quite hear. Maybe she was praying or something. She seemed too scared to even run. "All we want is the money Mr. Strober hid in the ship. We're not here to hurt anybody. I'm just going to tie you up and leave you here for your friends to find. Do you trust me?"

"Yes, I trust you." She whimpered and shut her eyes.

River suddenly stiffened. Her eyes rolled up leaving only the whites. Book rushed over to check on her. "What's happening now?!" Mal shouted.

"I don't know! She's having some kind of seizure. Rapid breathing, I think her heartbeat has increased. I don't know what to do!"

Mal felt helpless. He wished Simon was here.

Gawain smiled, this would be easier than he thought. He stepped toward her, his left hand going to the cord coiled on his belt then her eyes opened again. The fearful expression was gone. There was just a blank expression and staring eyes. He stopped. She began walking backwards.

Gawain shook his head and followed her. Then suddenly she gave a roundhouse kick. He dodged and stumbled on one of the rolled up mattresses. Crafty bitch! She lured him to where his footing was cluttered. She moved for a quick chop to the throat which he managed to block. She seemed to have some knowledge of martial arts but her movements seemed kind of jerky. What unnerved him the most was her facial expression. He had fought people who looked angry, defiant, or frightened. But her blank expression never changed in the slightest. He attempted a punch but she caught his arm and tried to put him in a lock which he managed to break. He was still stronger than she was and had the advantage of reach. He saw an opening and thrust his knife to her belly. The opening turned out to be a clever feint and she managed to kick his hand sending the knife flying onto the cart. However the kick left her vulnerable for a solid punch by his left fist into her face. The blow should have staggered her but her head just snapped backwards with the force and immediately snapped back forward again. Blood trickled from her nose but her blank expression didn't change and he could swear she didn't even blink.

Gawain tried to sidestep and stumbled on another mattress. The girl gave a jerky kick to the side of his knee. While she was off balance he managed to slam her against a beam on the wall. Her head hit it hard and it should have stunned her for at least a few seconds but it didn't. Again she didn't even blink. Was she some kind of robot? She was bleeding and he never heard of a robot that bled. He kicked her in the midsection and knocked her back a few feet. The air burst out of her mouth but the expression still never changed. If he was ever going to beat her he would have to cut her up with the knife.

Gawain spun around and leaped for the cart. His hand closed over the hilt just when the girl leaped on his back wrapping her legs around his waist and clutching his head with her hands. For most people that would be an awkward situation but she didn't know Gawain was double jointed. It was just a matter of thrusting the knife upward through the ribs into the heart. Gawain swiftly thrust back and up.

He felt a wrenching pain in his neck and something popped. Then he was staring impossibly into the girl's blank, expressionless face. Everything below his neck suddenly went numb. The knife skidded across her ribs but it was already falling from numb fingers. His whole body collapsed like a rag doll as the girl leaped off. The last thing Gawain saw was her terrifying blank expressionless face over his. The empty staring eyes and blood dripping from her nose. Then everything faded into black.

Authors note: A part of this chapter is an almost direct quote from chapter 16 of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The book is copyright 1899 and is now in the public domain.

Wow! Six chapters, five months, and only one review! I am so embarrassed! (Hangs his head in shame.) I never had a story do so poorly, ever! If you want me to feel better and I don't know why you would, just toss me a bone and click that little button down there and tell me what you think. Like it, hate it, completely indifferent? Let me know.


	8. One Last Scream Before Dying

**One Last Scream Before Dying**

**Snapdragon**

**Chapter 8**

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Authors note: I would like to thank Prolix and Anonymous for the nice reviews.**

The body was lying face down on the deck. The head however was twisted 180 degrees and was facing up. The Scarecrow leaned over the man's body and hooked her fingers under his jaw. She lifted the head up off the neck and jiggled it around to make sure the skull was completely separated from the spinal cord. She then stood up and looked around the passageway. Her eyes showed no expression as they passed over the corpse, the cart, and the mattresses. She then bent over to pick up the strap and buckle it over her shoulder. The Scarecrow then pushed the cart toward the engine room. The mattresses trailing behind her bumped over Gawain's body.

Gary was still laying on his side when Kaylee entered the engine room. Her limp was gone and her bloody face showed no expression as she looked around. Her blank eyes locked on his and showed no sign of recognition. She turned around and calmly pulled the mattresses into the doorway. Kaylee then held the cart with both hands and shut her eyes.

"Owww!" Kaylee collapsed against the cart. Her hand clutched the side of her head. It felt like someone was splitting her skull open. She felt a lump as big around as an egg. Her eyes opened and she saw blood dripping onto the rolled up mattress on the cart. Her hand moved to her sore nose and came away bloody. Her upper lip also felt puffy and her leg hurt more than ever. She felt completely exhausted as if she had just run a marathon on her bad leg with weights on her arms. There were also some bruises on her hands and arms that weren't there before. She must have fallen down the stairs and hit her head. That's why she couldn't remember going into the engine room. The last thing she remembered was seeing the man with the knife. The man with the knife! He's still out there somewhere! She spun around and slammed the door shut. Her hands fumbled in panic as she got the welder off her belt. She yanked the goggles over her eyes and began welding the door shut. The power pack on her belt was getting low on juice and the welder sputtered. It wasn't until the door was sealed that she felt somewhat safe.

With the door sealed shut the engine room felt even hotter and stuffier than ever. With no ventilation they would probably eventually suffocate. Kaylee checked on Gary removing the gag and cutting through the chain on the handcuffs. "You OK?" she asked.

"Been . . .better."

Kaylee dragged out some ductwork and began cutting the sheet metal into shape with her torch.

"Whatcha . . . doing?"

"Making a crash couch."

"What . . . for?

"Crashing of course!"

………………………………...

Mabel and her son Percival shined their flashlights around the mess deck. There was a visible blood trail leading a closed metal door. Percival heaved on it.

"I can't open it Mother, I think she welded it."

"Cut it open!"

"If she welded it shut, she can't get out. Why don't we just get the money and leave?"

Mabel slapped him. "She murdered your little brother in cold blood! You think we should let her get away with that!? Brag to her friends? You know our policy! No loose ends! People breathing are loose ends!"

Percival rubbed his cheek and picked up his cutting torch.

………………………………...

Kaylee backed up a mattress with sheet metal to stiffen it. Gary lay on his side on top. Another one in front. The whole thing was sitting on a piece of the cargo net that she cut out. She cut holes in the foam rubber to leave his nose and mouth open and his wound ventilated. Pulling the straps tight would put him in a cocoon between the mattresses. She made a similar one for herself only with a rope inside tied off to a brace and used the hoist to hoist hers up in the air. She then started attaching straps looking around the room calculating lines of force, stress points and breaking strengths. Kaylee didn't have much formal education in mathematics. She didn't know anything about trigonometry, calculus, or Newton's laws of action and reaction. But for all that she did have a very good sense of practical mathematics. The other members of her crew sometimes called her a genius but she knew they were just teasing her. She wasn't a genius. Simon was a genius with his university and medical school education and all the things he knew. She'd never even been to high school.

………………………………...

Percival pulled the door back into the mess deck to avoid setting off any traps. Mabel shined her flashlight into the passageway illuminating another closed metal door. Percival groaned.

………………………………...

Kaylee hoisted Gary into the air. All she could see was his nose and mouth through the hole she cut. "I can't . . . .see." He whispered.

"Nothing to see." She was attaching straps to his cocoon calculating lines of force. The port side of the engine room was now crisscrossed with straps in all directions leading to the two cocoons.

………………………………...

Percival finally got the last of the locked and welded doors open. He was finally getting the hang of using the cutting torch. He'd had enough gorram practice with it. All they found was junk. The bitch had led them on a false trail. Time to head to the other end of the ship.

………………………………...

Mal scanned the back of the Strober house. Nobody was wandering around outside and everything seemed quiet. They could hear the squalling of a baby. Zoe brought up her binoculars.

"They've got a baby just lying out on the porch in the sun! What kind of people would leave a baby out like that?!"

"I dunno, don't worry about the baby right now. It ain't gonna die in the next few minutes. I need you to scout the house and see if you can see inside."

"They're probably just hav'n supper." Jayne grumbled. "I tell ya, this is a waste of time."

Zoe approached the house from an angle that didn't have any windows. She then crawled around the house. Under each window she would sit a while listening then her head would bob up, scan the room for a split second then drop down. During the war she learned how to take in a room almost instantly then recall the details later. Mal and Jayne watched as she scurried back to them.

"Everybody's in the living room." She reported. "Mr. Strober, Simon, a lady, a young guy, an old guy, three kids. All cuffed to chairs. One dead woman on the floor. There's a woman covering them."

"You sure the woman on the floor is dead?" Mal asked.

"Nobody loses that much blood and survives. She's dead. No sign of Kaylee, she's either upstairs, in a blind spot, or not in the house."

"How about the woman covering them?" Jayne's hostile attitude had switched from Mal to whoever these people were. He was really worried about Kaylee.

"You'd like her. Late teens or early twenties. Pretty little thing, stone cold killer. She's holding a Matsuda automatic shotgun."

"Jen dao mei!" The Matsuda automatic shotgun was capable of firing 200 rounds of buckshot a minute. It was commonly referred to as the "Room broom." That girl could kill everybody in the room in less than a second.

Zoe raised her eyebrows. "So captain, what do we do now?"

Mal stood up and unbuckled his gun belt. "I'm gonna go in and talk to her."

"You think that's a good idea?"

"No." He handed her the gun belt then started to unbutton his shirt.

Zoe shook her head. "Is that really necessary?"

"You said yourself she's a stone cold killer. She's libel to shoot anyone coming in on sight. I've got to prove I'm no threat, to shock her. Make her forget she's holding that room broom for a few seconds. Give her time to listen."

………………………………...

Kaylee was working under the compression coil cutting wires and reattaching them. There were several fail safes she had to bypass. Snapdragon no longer had any artificial gravity or inertia dampeners. On most worlds what she was trying to do was illegal in the atmosphere. Doing it on the ground was not only illegal, it was immoral and insane. Especially without grav or inertia dampeners. Most of the fuel had been siphoned out over the years but there were still traces left. Snapdragon will never sing again but she could still make one last scream before dying Drops of sweat and blood dripped off her nose onto the deck. Her stomach was still a solid knot of fear.

"Kaylee . . . . thanks." Gary's voice was very weak.

"Don't thank me yet, I might still blow us both to hell."

"Then I . . . . should thank . . . you now. . . . I don't . . . . think you'll end . . . up in hell."

Kaylee smiled a little. She didn't really hate him, never really did. Hating people isn't really who she is. "Thanks, that's a nice thing for you to say. I still don't like you though so you're not gettin' any sex."

"S' okay, not in the . . . mood anymore."

………………………………...

Mabel and Percival stopped in front of Gawain's body. His head was twisted completely around and his dead eyes were staring straight up. Mabel checked it for wounds rolling it over. No gunshot or knife wounds. The Bitch must be unarmed. Mabel was trembling in rage. Spittle was leaking from her mouth. The evil coward must have sneaked up behind the poor innocent boy and broke his neck with a hammer. She was sure both of her sons were now in Heaven with the Lord. They were such good boys. Just as she was sure the monster who murdered them would burn in Hell. But first she had a special fate for the evil bitch. She was going to cut off her body parts one by one. Seal the wounds with hot tar. Give her time to recover. The cut off another one. Arms, legs, breasts, ears, nose, eye, teeth, lower jaw, scalp. Feed the parts to the dogs in front of her. Leave nothing but a misshapen torso with half a head attached. But she'll leave her one eye so the hideous monster could see herself in the mirror. If Mabel weren't so furious she would have cackled in glee. She knew God would forgive her. She was just punishing a sinner.

………………………………...

Morgan was getting impatient. What was taking them so long? They should have killed those four people already and gotten the money. As soon as the rest of them got the money they can kill these dummies and get out of here. She heard a door creak and brought her shotgun up. That may be them.

"Don't shoot. I'm coming in. I just want to talk." It was a man's voice. Morgan aimed her shotgun as a man stepped though the doorway.

What the Hell!? This guy's buck naked?! Morgan's finger relaxed on the trigger as she unconsciously lowered the gun.

"My name is Malcolm Reynolds." He spoke slowly pronouncing each word clearly and carefully. His hands raised over his head. "I'm unarmed see." He slowly turned around. Morgan's mouth twitched in a slight smile. He wasn't a bad looking fellow. Well built. Maybe a bit touched in the head. Quite a few scars. He must be either real unlucky or real stupid to get cut up so bad. Still, if they had time she might give him a roll before finishing him off. "See, I'm unarmed." He continued in a soothing voice. "I just want to talk, I promise not to hurt you. I'm just a distraction."

Something hard slammed into the back of her head and she fell unconscious, face first, onto the floor. Jayne stood over her grinning, holding Vera butt first. Then he noticed the other woman, lying on the floor in a pool of blood and his grin faded. "That just ain't right." He muttered.

Zoe holstered her pistol then approached Malcolm with a stack of neatly folded clothes, a pair of boots sitting on top. "Put these on Captain," She said in her calm deadpan voice. "Please, I'm begging you."

Jayne fished the handcuff keys off the girl and unfastened Simon first then Mr. Strober. Sebastian didn't even wait for his ankles to be freed. He immediately crawled over to his daughter and lifted her up in his arms. Her head swung back obscenely. The slash across her throat was deep and her head was just held on by the spine. He cradled her head to his chest holding it in place as he knelt in her blood rocking her back and forth, sobbing.

Simon hustled the three children out of the room then returned. "The rest of the gang is at an old spaceship! Kaylee's there too! They've been there for hours!"

………………………………...

Kaylee was attaching wires to the cart. She had pushed it against the aft bulkhead and had put her heavy toolbox on top. _"Is she there? She can't do this anymore." _The voice in her head was back. It was much softer and weaker than before.

"Yeah, I'm here." Kaylee whispered. "Thank you for getting me into the engine room. How did you do it?"

"_There are some things the Lion is better off not knowing. Promise her you will never ever ask her that again."_

Kaylee didn't like the way that sounded. "Umm, okay." The cart was held together by wing nuts for easy breakdown and stowage. She began carefully removing the wing nuts.

"_What the Scarecrow did, she can't do it anymore. She is too weak. Can't stay."_

"That's okay too. I have to fight this battle my own way. Look, there's a very good chance I'm gonna die in the next few minutes. There's so much I want to say to you. Take care of Simon, he needs you."

". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _The Scarecrow loves her Cowardly Lion."_ She could barely hear the voice.

Kaylee smiled, she felt a warmth inside that had nothing to do with the sweltering heat of the engine room. "Right back atcha Scarecrow." She wasn't sure she was heard. The presence was gone. She was alone. But in the end doesn't everyone die alone? Kaylee glanced at the door. They were cutting through it. "Please go away!" She shouted. "There's nothing in here you want! If you come in I'm gonna have to kill you!" She had removed the wing nuts and bolts, the cart was now held together only by gravity.

Mabel had a nasty smile. The voice she heard didn't sound very confident. It sounded like a frightened little girl. This bitch wasn't so tough when she wasn't shooting an innocent child or sneaking up behind someone. "We just want the money Mr. Strober hid in the ship! We don't want to kill anybody! Just let us in!"

"I don't believe you! The money ain't in here! Just go away!" Kaylee was stepping away from the cart carefully avoiding the wires strung across the deck. She pulled on the wires pulling the cargo net up and tied it off, it now blocked off the port side of the engine room where the cocoons were.

"You murdered two of my boys!"

Kaylee's brow furrowed. Two of them? Gary must have shot one of them on the hillside. She wired her hand computer to the engine. "And you killed Pollychrome Kirby! She was a good woman and she was my friend! She had family and friends who loved her!" Kaylee blinked the tears away. "You blew her head off!" She began programming the small computer. She had to trick Snapdragon into thinking she was in space instead of on the ground.

"I'm going to kill you bitch!"

"And I've got friends who won't rest until they've killed you! That's how it goes! I kill you! You kill me! My friends kill your friends! Your friends kill my friends! Everybody dies!" Sweat and blood dripped onto the hand comp as she bypassed more fail safes. "You can stop it! Just take the money and go! You killed my friend and I'm gonna have to report it to the authorities! Maybe you'll get away! Maybe you won't! But we don't have to do this!"

"I've got nothing more to say to you!" There was silence from the door. Just the sputtering of the cutting torch. Kaylee figured there was about a thirty percent chance of the engine blowing up. If she had another ten minutes to troubleshoot and reprogram the magnetic plasma containment grid she can make it drop down to fifteen or maybe ten percent. Kaylee glanced at the door. Don't have ten minutes. Thirty percent it is. Then her natural optimism took over and she smiled. Hey! Seventy percent chance we don't blow up! Of course getting blown up was only the first and maybe the nicest way she can be killed in the next few minutes. Kaylee stood up and yanked on the compression coil. It started turning and she flicked a switch. It made a small bang and began rotating slowly with a creaking noise. Kaylee took a few seconds to oil it until the creaking stopped. She wanted Snapdragon to die with as much dignity as possible.

"Kaylee." Gary whispered. "Not all . . .spacers are bad. . . .you're one of. . . .the good ones."

Kaylee gave an exasperated snort. Patronizing bigotry is almost as bad as the hostile kind. But she no longer cared. She started squirming into her cocoon, it was hot and nasty in there. Oh no! She forgot about the scrubber! Kaylee squirmed out and squeezed past the cargo net. Without the scrubber, Serenity will die. Maybe Malcolm will find another one but maybe he won't. She could imagine them running out of money and having to abandon Serenity. Serenity sitting out in a field like this one being picked apart! The door was almost cut through. She had maybe two minutes left. She quickly attached the hoist to a beam and hooked on the scrubber. She hoisted it and swung it over the original bolts and dropped it down with a loud thump. No time for finesse! She pulled the nuts from her pocket and screwed then down as tight as she could then grabbed an extra mattress and wrapped it around the scrubber, slung a strap around it and pulled tight.

Another look at the door. Maybe thirty seconds! She squirmed under the cargo net. Twenty seconds! She tried squirming into the cocoon.

Percival finally cut through the door and pulled it away. Mabel shined her flashlight into the darkened room. There was some kind of rotating drum then the beam hit something behind a rope net made of straps and mattresses with a pair of kicking legs sticking out. Percival started to step in but Mabel put a hand on his chest stopping him. "Stop! There may be a booby trap!" She shined her flashlight on the floor and sure enough, there was a black wire strung just in front of the door. The wire looped around a pipe to a cart in the back of the room. Better be careful.

Kaylee tried to get into the cocoon. It was too tight! The straps were too tight! No time to get out and fix them. The rope inside helped a lot. It gave her something to pull on but she couldn't bend her elbows much. She hadn't squeezed though a hole that small since the day she was born. The mattresses were hot and smelled horrible. They smelled like smoke, bat poop, urine, old hobo sweat, old hobo sex. No! She's not going to spend what may be the last few seconds of her life thinking about a smelly mattress! She thought about good things. Thunderstorms, she'd always loved thunderstorms as a girl and it's been so long since she's seen one. The warmth of River's body pressed against hers, the way she smelled after they'd made love, The hum of Serenity's engines. Biting into a fresh tomato and tasting the cool juice as it squirted into her mouth. Simon, so loving, so strong, so heartbreakingly shy. Kaylee had gotten a far inside as she could. Only her feet were sticking out. She squirmed one arm out between the mattresses. Through the gap she could see a man and a woman standing in the doorway with flashlights and guns. The woman had a pink backpack. She didn't see any sign of the man with the knife.

Mabel West was still searching the room for addition traps when she heard a soft feminine voice.

"I'm sorry."

She flicked the light back to the cocoon. Only a pair of boots and an arm were sticking out now. The hand pulled on a tight wire and quickly squirmed back inside. With a loud clatter the cart in the back of the room collapsed. The heavy toolbox sitting on it fell pulling a wire attached to a lever. The spinning drum spun faster and the whole room lit up with an orange glow as the large panels on the ceiling and walls lit up. Mabel realized what was happening and opened her mouth to scream but didn't have time.


	9. The Cyclone

**The Cyclone**

**Snapdragon **

**Chapter 9**

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Authors note: Hello there, I would like to thank my reviewers. To mmeg0572, yes, Malcolm is Dorothy. All he wants is a home and Serenity is his home. To Anna, glad you're enjoying the story. Only fair to say it. To aqualung in left, I'm sure Kaylee loves both the Tams equally. She's a very good and loving woman. **

Wilson stayed in the house watching Morgan who was now handcuffed to a chair. Ellen Strober went out on the porch to get the baby. Greg Kirby took the Matsuda and boarded Serenity with Malcolm, Zoe, Simon, and Jayne. He was terribly worried about his daughter Polychrome. Since it was a short hop they stayed in the cargo hold with the doors open for a quick exit.

Serenity's engines roared as she rose into the air and headed south. "We'll be there in no time." Wash's voice came over the intercom . "I can see it now."

"NO!" River's voice shrieked over the intercom. "FLY MONKEYS, FLY! THE CYCLONE IS COMING! THE HOUSE WILL FALL AND CRUSH THE WICKED WITCH!"

"Wha?" Malcolm turned his head. Then his eyes widened. "CLIMB WASH CLIMB!" His hand slapped the door button. The inner doors began to close.

Wash obeyed the order even before he fully understood it. Serenity creaked and trembled as the ship gained altitude. The doors didn't have time to completely shut when the shockwave hit.

………………………………...

"I wish they'd hurry up!" Lancelot wailed clutching his bandaged arm. "My arm hurts real bad!"

Guinevere sneered at her brother in contempt. She was getting tired of his constant whining. "It serves you right for being stupid enough to get shot in the first place!" She shouted back at him. They were on opposite sides of the ship waiting for any escapees. Mother and the others were taking their sweet time in there and she was getting bored.

Suddenly, a small cloud of bats erupted from the ship. Guinevere looked up there curiously. The tail end of the ship suddenly became bright orange. Guinevere instinctively threw her arm up to protect her eyes. Lancelot turned to run. He made it two steps. Both gestures were about as effective as spitting into the face of a hurricane. A fireball of searing hot plasma blasted into them sending their burning bodies tumbling across the ground. The hover sled flipped over and was blasted to pieces along with the ion charger.

………………………………...

When the main drive lit off Snapdragon accelerated to 15Gs in only a second and a half. Percival bounced off the cargo net on his way to the aft end of the engine room. Mabel's leg smashed against the compression coil before they both slammed into the aft bulkhead with bone shattering force. Kaylee and Gary felt crushed by the overpowering force. It felt like it was squeezing the life out of them. The straps holding their crash couches strained and creaked but Kaylee's calculations held as Snapdragon clawed for the sky one last time. The engine then cut off as the last of the fuel burned off. They were now floating in free fall. It was only a brief respite. Only a couple of seconds. Without engines a Firefly was about as aerodynamic as a brick. The worst was yet to come.

………………………………...

Malcolm, Jayne, Simon, Zoe, and Greg were thrown off their feet by the blast of hot air that came though the open cargo hold. Aft end of the ship tilted up sending everything sliding toward the open doors. The Matsuda skidded out and disappeared when Greg Kirby dropped it and grabbed a cargo strap. Then the artificial gravity kicked in and pulled them to the deck. "Wuh duh mah!" Jayne shouted as they saw the derelict ship shoot out from it's resting place like a rocket. There were a couple of small human figures outside that disappeared in the fireball. The cargo ramp ripped loose and tumbled like a cartwheel across the valley. The ship didn't fly very high. The ship wasn't really pointing up when the main drive went off. It probably flew no higher than sixty yards in its arc across the valley. The engine cut out and it seem to coast for what seemed a long time but couldn't have been more than a couple of seconds. It slammed into the rocky ground with a force that made the hull buckle. It made a slight bounce then smashed down again. With a rending shriek the cargo hold collapsed and the nose tilted down as it skidded across the ground ripping up rocks and trees as if they weren't even there. The ship's nose dug into the ground as the stern rose even higher as the ship kept skidding down the valley. The nose bent and crumpled underneath the vessel as it dug a long trench though the rocks and soil. The stern rose even higher and it looked as if Snapdragon would flip over on her back. The ship gradually slowed as the cloud of dust rose around it. The stern reached an angle of eighty five degrees when it finally slowed to a stop. Snapdragon paused, then fell back down. The lower decks collapsed and it ceased all movement. The last orange glow on its engine flickered and faded into black. Snapdragon was truly dead.

Wash brought the ship down as close to the wreck as possible. Simon was staring at the wreckage in stunned silence. Tears ran down his cheeks and he couldn't speak. Kaylee was dead. She had to be. No one could have possibly survived in that mass of wreckage. Malcolm rushed past him. "Check the engine room! Quick!"

That snapped Simon out of his trance. Of course she would be in the engine room. Where else would she be? The engine room was the only part of the ship that was relatively intact. He scrambled over the jagged wreckage imagining her smashed body lying twisted somewhere within. Mal and Jayne were heaving on a piece of wreckage. Simon grabbed a hold of it and heaved. Zoe found a piece of pipe, shoved it behind, and used it as a lever. With a creaking groan, the twisted piece of metal gave way. They could see the engine room door. It was still set into the bulkhead but with a large oval hole cut through it. Simon went in first. The engine room's deck was badly buckled and seemed full of straps and padding. Near the door he found a horribly mangled body with a strangled sob he knelt by it and lifted her right hand. The body was unrecognizable but it was a woman about the same size as Kaylee. Simon's breathing was ragged as he gently caressed the hand. Then he stopped. The hand was too smooth. It didn't have the calluses Kaylee's hand did. It wasn't her.

Hopefully Simon looked around. From a tangled mess of padding, sheet metal and straps a dirty hand emerged, it groped around until it found a strap then followed it to a buckle and started tugging on it. Simon rushed over and tried to open it himself. The buckle was badly dented but Jayne appeared with a sharp knife and cut though the strap. Kaylee tumbled out into his arms. She was filthy. Covered with sweat, blood, grease, and dust. Battered and bruised. Her hair was a dirty tangled mess and her normally lovely hazel eyes were badly bloodshot. A side effect of high G forces. But she was alive and whole and at that moment Simon thought she never looked more beautiful.

"Kaylee! Are you okay?!" He pulled her into his arms hugging her tight. Kaylee threw her arms around him laying her head on his shoulder. Her whole body ached from the wreck and his hug was making the aches worse but now the aches were pleasant aches. Downright pleasurable. She breathed in deeply. He smelled so nice. Like soap, rubbing alcohol and antiseptics. But as wonderful as the hug was she could only indulge in it for a couple of seconds.

She pushed herself away. "Gary! He's hurt bad! Shot though the lung!" She pointed at the other cocoon. Simon immediately let go of her and she watched him and Jayne extract Gary from the makeshift crash couch, checking his vitals, giving him his full attention. Her arms were empty and now her aches just hurt. She never disliked Gary more than she did at that moment.

"Don't worry, Kaylee! We'll take good care of your friend!"

"He's not my friend!" She shouted back. "But please take good care of him."

Mr. Kirby came up dragging a stretcher which he set down next to them. He then turned to Kaylee with a frightened look on his face. "Poly?"

Kaylee couldn't keep her tears in. "I'm sorry!" The man was grief stricken. He had lost everything. His whole family was gone now. She threw her arms around him. "It was quick. She didn't suffer. I'm so sorry!"

He held her for a moment just sobbing. "They got Cecilia too."

"Oh, no, no, no."

Then he released her. "What about David?"

"I think he's okay, I think he got away."

Greg shook his head sadly. "Yeah, he would." He then turned to pick up the stretcher. He and Simon carried Gary through the open door on their way back to Serenity. Kaylee just slumped on the buckled deck. She felt horrible. She made a mental note to never crash a spaceship again. Next time she'll just let them kill her.

Jayne came up with a grin. "You oughta come over here and see what you did to these slime balls!" They're all . . ."

"No!" Kaylee shook her head. "I don't wanta know! I don't wanta see them! It was an accident! Cover the bodies and promise me you'll never tell me about what happened to them!"

Jayne was set back. "Uhh, okay."

"And promise me you'll never tell Simon about me and River."

"What?"

Kaylee stared into his eyes. "He'll find out eventually, but it will be at a time and place of our choosing! Promise me!"

"Umm, okay. I promise."

That satisfied Kaylee. Jayne would never break a promise to her. She was probably the only one in the whole 'verse besides his mother who could say that. She waited until he covered the bodies with cloth cut from the mattress covers before she went to the starboard side of the engine room. She tried to ignore the lumps under the cloth and the huge amount of blood splashed everywhere to check on the scrubber.

The mattress was ripped badly down to the metal and she held her breath as she cut the strap off. "Ohhh" She murmured in disappointment. The casing was badly scratched and dented. It should still work just fine but it wasn't pretty anymore and Serenity deserved to have pretty things. There was something pink wedged behind it. Kaylee worked it loose. It was a pink backpack with both straps torn loose but otherwise intact. She pulled the zipper open and looked inside. Her mouth opened with surprise.

Jayne had spent half an hour crawling through the wreckage. The day wasn't that bad. Bopping the evil chick on the head had been a tad amusing. Seeing the captain prancing around naked was totally hilarious. And now that he knew little Kaylee was alright, the whole spaceship crash was downright awesome! But none of these things was gonna to buy him a cold beer or a warm woman. Maybe a few extra bucks to send home to Ma. So he was scrambling through this pile of junk. There had to be something worth stealing!

He spotted some blood spattered blue cloth, pulled some wreckage out of the way and pulled it out. It was the bottom half of some fella. Jayne didn't know where the top half was and didn't care as he rifled though the pockets. He pulled out a handful of coins and a billfold. The billfold held some banknotes, both Ozian and Alliance. Ew yuck! They're all sticky! Still, money's, money. He stuffed them into his pocket then spied something else under the wreckage. It looked like a large, battered rectangular strongbox. He pushed and pulled at some wreckage to clear it. It was still stuck under a large section of crumpled hull plating. He grabbed the handle and pulled with all his might. Nothing! Jayne looked around, grabbed a section of pipe and wedged it behind the box. With a loud creak, it came loose. He frowned at the lock. It was a pretty good lock. He pulled Vera off his shoulder and unloaded it. Then he reached into a pocket on his right leg and pulled out a magazine painted red with the word 'NO' painted on both sides in big white letters. He had to be careful with his armor piercing bullets. They could punch right though Serenity's hull.

Jayne took careful aim and fired one round. The lock was smashed. He leaned over and lifted the lid. He had to force it because the box was bent. With a loud creak he got it open and discovered several bags, some of which had split open leaking coins and bills.

"Whoooeee!" He shouted picking up a bag that wasn't split. Opening it up revealed more money.

"What's up?" Mal asked. He and Zoe came running, guns out as soon as they heard the shot.

"We're rich!" Jayne shouted waving the bag over his head.

Mal and Zoe's faces broke out into grins when they saw the contents of the box. "Looks like it's payday!" Mal said picking up a bag of his own.

Kaylee came limping up. "We can't keep it. It ain't ours."

"I know it ain't ours!" Jayne shouted exultantly waving the bag. "That's why it's called stealin'!"

Mal turned to Kaylee. "Am I gonna hafta explain the whole stealing thing to you again?"

"No! It's just that this is Mr. Strober's money for his hospital. Mr. Strober's not a mark, he's a client. We made a deal with him." She shook her head. Polychrome and Cecelia both died because of this money. "I know it wasn't a good deal. He had us over a barrel and he knew it. But we make a deal, we keep a deal, we get paid. We never steal from clients!" She looked at the money wistfully. A part of her wanted to keep it. "They really need the hospital. People's lives are at stake."

Malcolm looked into the box of money. "She's right. We don't steal from clients." He didn't sound too happy about it.

"Except just this once?" Jayne asked hopefully.

"No, put it back. We'll take the box back to the ranch with us."

Jayne flung the bag of cash back into the box with disgust.

Simon came climbing up. "I've got Gary stabilized. You saved his life Kaylee." He spotted the box. "What's going on?"

Malcolm turned to him. "We found Mr. Strober's money and we're gonna take it back to him."

"We're still getting paid!" Kaylee declared. "I found this." She pulled a bag of coins and banknotes out of the pink backpack. "And this!" She produced a diamond tiara and handed it to Zoe.

Zoe tried to scratch one of the small diamonds with the tip of her knife. "Those are real diamonds, Captain."

Kaylee gave a small smile, then she reached inside the bag and pulled out three small gold coins which she tossed into the box. "From my share."

Simon grinned at her then pulled out three more gold coins and tossed them in. "And mine."

Zoe stepped over and pulled out six coins. "From my share and Wash's." She tossed them in. "I'll explain to him later. He'll understand."

Malcolm pulled out three gold coins and dropped them in too. He didn't look too happy about it either.

"So why's everybody lookin' at me?" Jayne asked. "What?" He shook his head. "Quite looking at me like that! . . . . . Oh all right!" He pulled out three coins and flung them into the box. He had a look of disgust on his face. "If I ever get sick on this rock they better give me a discount!"

They were hauling the strongbox back to the ship when Wash's voice came in over their radios. "Better hurry up guys. Mrs. Strober just called. Her husband had a massive heart attack. He's dying."


	10. Promises To Keep

Promises To Keep

Snapdragon

Chapter 10

Mal and Jayne carried the long, heavy strongbox while Zoe played bodyguard, rifle ready, scanning the area for any members of the gang who might have survived. Simon picked up Kaylee in his arms and carried her back to the ship. A situation that Kaylee was enjoying immensely. As they entered Serenity's cargo hold she notice River staring intensely at a chain looped onto the bulkhead. "Put me down! I need to talk to River!"

Simon set her down. "I'm sorry. I don't have time to do your leg."

"I understand, lives are at stake." 

He smiled gently at her. "You're very brave, Kaylee."

As he went into the sickbay to pick up some items he needed she felt a flush of shame and embarrassment. If only he knew what a sniveling coward she really was. Kaylee turned and limped over to River.

"This chain has one thousand, one hundred and eighty three links."

Kaylee threw her arms around her. "Thank you!"

"Why do you thank her? She didn't do anything."

"Thank you for . . . just being you!"

River turned to stare into her face. "Your eyes are all red and splotchy. The blood vessels have dilated." She traced her fingers down Kaylee's cheek and smiled. "They're so beautiful." She whispered.

Kaylee pressed her forehead against River's. "Yeah, I just had one of the worst days of my life. I'm just gonna go to sickbay and lie down 'til your brother gets back."

River just stared into her eyes. "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep."

Serenity gave a gentle bump as she landed near the ranch house. Kaylee watched Simon trot down the cargo ramp and toward the house followed by Shepherd Book. She then turned, limped toward sickbay for two steps and stopped. Something about what River said. Promises to keep. Miles to go before I sleep. A man was dying over there. A man she was rather fond of. Too many people died today. Polychrome, Cecilia, Snapdragon, that kid either she or Gary shot, the rest of the bandits who died in the crash. And she caused a good number of those deaths. As much as she can kid herself about it being an accident she really did kill those people.

She really should go to sickbay. She was wounded, exhausted, her stomach felt nauseous. Her leg hurt so bad! She'd been walking on it all day. Every step was agony! There was blood on her hands. Her friend, Polychrome got her brains blown out right in front of her! It was taking every ounce of willpower she had to keep from curling up into a screaming, weeping, ball of crazy. But something was pulling her toward the ranch house. Maybe there was something she could do to help. Maybe she could comfort the family. She began limping toward the open cargo bay doors. Promises to keep. We make a deal, we keep a deal. Miles to go before I sleep. And maybe a chance to find some redemption. Besides, Gary was in sickbay and she really can't stand that guy.

When she limped though the front door there was no sign of Simon. He must be in one of the bedrooms with Mr. Strober. Shepherd Book was standing in the corner talking quietly with Ellen Strober. There was a still form lying on the floor covered with a bed sheet. A large puddle of blood. The whole room had the metallic smell of fresh spilled blood. 

Kaylee caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror. Is that what I look like? She looked like a zombie from one of those movies Wash was so fond of. Wash, good idea. She limped into the kitchen. A bar of soap next to the sink. She started with her arms and moved on to her face. Then she wet her hair and rubbed the bar into it trying to lather it. A bar of lye soap isn't as good as shampoo but after cleaning and rinsing it three times it should be clean enough. Kaylee combed her wet hair and limped back out to look into the mirror. She's not going to win any beauty contests but she won't scare the dogs away either. Kaylee limped over to the table and slumped into the "Seat of Honor." Her leg was throbbing, her head was throbbing. She couldn't think of a single inch of her body that didn't ache. And wherever total exhaustion was she had gone way past that into a whole new state of weariness. Kaylee folded her arms on the table to rest her head. Just rest her eyes for a few minutes.

There were voices in her head. Is that you, River? No it was Simon's voice. Could he do it too? She tried to focus. 

"I'm sorry Ellen, I've made him comfortable but I'm afraid he doesn't have very long."

"Isn't there anything you can do?" A feminine voice.

"He really needs a pacemaker but I don't have one with me. Even with the ship I doubt that we can get him to the Emerald City Hospital in time."

Kaylee wanted to slip deeper into sleep but a nagging part of her conscience struggled to wake up. Promises to keep. Miles to go before I sleep. Make a deal, keep a deal.

"What's a pacemaker?"

Kaylee's sleepy voice startled Simon. He had been surprised to see her in the house when he came downstairs but she had been snoring lightly and he didn't want to disturb her. "It's a medical device implanted in the chest that delivers small electrical shocks to the atrium and ventricle of the heart to keep a rhythmic beat.

Kaylee didn't have the slightest idea what parts of the heart the atrium and ventricle were but she figured that was Simon's problem. "And a heart beats seventy five times a minute, right?"

He remembered months earlier when he had given everyone on the ship a complete checkup. Kaylee had been really enthusiastic about the experience unlike some people he could name. He had let her put on his stethoscope and time her own heartbeat. He had no idea she remembered her beats per minute after all this time. "That's normal for a woman. A man's heart is usually bigger and beats about seventy times a minute."

"Got it." Kaylee's eyes were flickering around the room and she chewed lightly on her lower lip. "That's a nice watch, Mrs. Strober. It's an Hourglass isn't it?"

Ellen distractedly fingered the gold, electronic watch on her wrist. She was still stressed out by her stepdaughter's murder and her husband's imminent death. "Yeah, it's their new Forever model. Sebastian gave it to me on our twentieth anniversary."

Kaylee nodded. "That's so sweet. It must mean a lot to you." She held her hand out. "But I'm gonna need you to give it to me and I'm sorry but you ain't gonna get it back."

Without a word Ellen Strober removed the watch and handed it to Kaylee who produced a small screwdriver from a pocket and began prying the back off. Sebastian was shocked. "Don't tell me you're going to try to turn a lady's watch into a pacemaker!?"

"Okay, I won't tell you. Ellen, if you take the back off that holoprojector you'll see an orange thing in the upper left hand corner. It should snap right out. Bring it over here please." The watch was made of real gold. That's good. Gold doesn't oxidize and people's innards tend to be rather damp.

"But a pacemaker is a precise medical instrument! Sixty seconds ago you didn't even know what one was!"

Kaylee had the back off and was using a pair of tweezers to remove a small chip the size of a grain of rice. "And now I do. I'm gonna need your help and advice on this, I can't do it by myself, but too many people have died today. Nobody else dies if I can help it! Ellen, after you get me the orange thing, hand me that comm unit by the lamp. Then you can go sit with Sebastian."

Simon was torn with indecision. The Doctor Simon Tam who was a leading surgeon on Osiris wouldn't dream of implanting a makeshift device hastily built by a half educated mechanic into a man's chest. Even to save his life. Even if it was successful, he would be sued, have his license revoked, end up disgraced, financially ruined, and arrested. But out here the rules have changed. He was already disgraced and financially ruined. His license had already been revoked. And if anyone wanted to arrest him they would just have to get in line. He lost everything but the one thing he treasured above all else. And while that other Dr. Tam had known several brilliant researchers he had never known one as imaginative as this undereducated genius sitting in front of him. She was right. Too many people have died.

"Zoe." He said into his comm unit. "I need you to bring my surgical instruments here and sterilize them." Zoe would assist him with the operation. She wasn't squeamish and had the ability to stay calm under the most stressful circumstances. He then leaned over the table peering over Kaylee's shoulder. There were now pieces of watch spread out on the table and she started taking apart the orange thing. He had no idea what she was doing but he would tell her what it had to do in the end.

Two hours later

Sebastian Strober sat up in the bed looking at the new scar stitched on his chest. Gathered around the bed were Simon, Kaylee, Ellen, and Zoe. "It seems to be working." He muttered.

"Hourglass's Forever watch is designed to recharge itself with the body's own electrical field." Kaylee said. "It may be using a little more power now than usual but the battery should last at least six years. I programmed the alarm to go off whenever your heartbeat drops below 70 beats per minute. The alarm is set to go off every second and sends a small charge out. I also reprogrammed the watch to think there are seventy seconds in a minute. It's an expensive watch with a lot of extra features that don't work on a pacemaker and just suck up power so I removed or burned them out. I also removed the voice activation because I don't want your heart to stop just because somebody says the wrong thing."

Sebastian nodded. "That's a good idea." He said dryly.

"It's still a makeshift affair at least four times larger than a modern pacemaker." Simon remarked. " It's even bigger than the first generation pacemakers of the mid Twentieth Century. I do recommend that you go to the Emerald City sometime and get it replaced." 

"I'll get it replaced in my own hospital! The groundbreaking's next week!" Sebastian paused. "St. Cecilia's Hospital. There is a Saint Cecilia isn't there?"

Simon nodded. "Yes, I believe she's the patron saint of music."

Sebastian nodded sadly. "Yes, she always did like music."

Kaylee's eyes were nearly shut and she leaned against the wall, her face was very pale. "The comm unit and the holoprojector can both be repaired. I just took a few easily replaceable parts from them. But I'm afraid the watch is now a pacemaker and it ain't never gonna be a watch again." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Ellen squeezed her husband's hand. "It's quite alright Kaylee. I'd much rather have the man than the watch. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"S'Okay." Kaylee replied weakly. "Now if you don't mind, I think I'm gonna pass out now." Kaylee collapsed against Simon. He picked her up in his strong arms and carried her back to the ship. She never woke up when he took her to sickbay and gently removed her torn, dirty workpants. He injected her thigh with a local anesthetic, removed the bullet, then cleaned and bandaged the wound. She was just sleeping with a slight smile to her face.

The next day Mal went back into the ranch house with Simon and Kaylee. Kaylee leaned heavily on Simon somewhat exaggerating her limp because she enjoyed his arm around her. The sheriff was supposed to come by today to pick up Morgan West and take statements. As they stepped off Serenity's ramp they noticed a hover truck approaching. It came to a stop in front of the house and David climbed out. 

"Don't worry, I'm okay. Is everybody else okay?"

Simon made sure Kaylee could stand on her own then stepped toward David. "You gorram coward! You left them to die!" He raised his fist to punch David but Kaylee grabbed his arm.

"No Simon! Don't hit him!" She couldn't let him hit David for being a coward. After all, she was the biggest coward out there.

Simon turned to look into her eyes. They had cleared up a lot since yesterday. He touched her cheek gently. 

"Okay Kaylee, I won't hurt him." Meanwhile Malcolm brushed past them and slammed his fist into David's face knocking him to the ground.

"Captain!" Kaylee shouted.

"Were you talkin' to me? I saw you talkin' to the Doc but I didn't know you were talkin' to me." He turned back to the sobbing man on the ground and beckoned him. "Get up you gorram coward so I can hit ya some more!"

Suddenly Wilson Strober stepped between Malcolm and David and stared Mal in the eye. "If you got a problem with one of my people you come to me! Not him!

Mal glared at the young man. He knew he could beat the tar out of this kid in thirty seconds but the kid knew it too. And he was still standing his ground. Defending his people. The way a leader should. The anger drained out of him. "Okay, I apologize." Jabbing his finger into Wilson's chest. "To you! Not to him!" Waving his arm at the man on the ground he turned on his heel and strode to the ranch house. Kaylee gave Wilson a smile before she and Simon followed him.

Inside the house Sebastian was sitting in a wheelchair waiting for them. "The sheriff should be here in another hour to pick her up." He nodded at the sullen young woman handcuffed to the chair.

Malcolm took a seat. "Dr. Smith saw the same things you and your family saw so I don't see any reason to bore the sheriff with repetitious stories. You can tell what happened here and Kaylee will cover what happened on Snapdragon." 

Sebastian smiled. "I understand why Dr. Smith won't want to bore the sheriff. He can wait in the other room."

Malcolm glanced at Morgan. "So, are you'all gonna hang her?"

"Of course not! Out here we traditionally use a firing squad. After a fair trial of course"

"Do you hafta shoot her?" Kaylee asked. "She's not much more than a kid. And growing up in that awful family, she never really had a chance!"

"I don't need any sympathy from you, bitch!" Morgan snarled.

Kaylee glanced at her, somewhat annoyed then looked back at Sebastian. She tried to give him the puppy dog look that sometimes worked on Malcolm when she was trying to get parts. "Please."

"If you were anyone else I would say no but for you Kaylee I'll see what I can do. I do have some influence around these parts. The best she can hope for is a very long prison sentence. Probably life."

Kaylee smiled "Thank you sir!"

"Captain Reynolds, why don't you and your crew stick around a bit? The groundbreaking ceremony for the hospital is next week. You'll be guests of honor."

Malcolm shook his head. "As much as I'd just love to stick around for a week to watch you and your buddies shoveling ceremonial bits of dirt around a field, we really have to move on. We more than kept our end of the bargain so we'll be collecting our scrubber and moving on. "

"If you can stick around for a couple of more days I have some cargo for you if you have room to squeeze it in."

Malcolm thought about his empty cargo hold and rather vague plans for the future. "I guess we could squeeze you in. What is it?"

"I've got eighty five cows."

"COWS!" Malcolm's voice went up at least three octaves.

"Yeah, they're being butchered and dressed as we speak. They should be ready the day after tomorrow."

"Oh, dead cows!" Malcolm relaxed. "We can squeeze them in. Destination?"

"Wellington Station. Ship's provisioner named Clymer. The Emerald City government decided beef was too expensive so they put a price ceiling on it. Not only that but we have to pay them a hefty tax for the privilege of selling it to them!" He shook his head. "Naturally there's a shortage of beef there now so they outlawed all exports. We can't even make an honest living anymore."

"I got no problem with takin' them off world for you."

"You'll have to set the cargo hold on freezing."

"That'll cost a little extra." Actually Serenity's life support system worked very hard to keep the cargo hold from freezing but since Sebastian took advantage of him in the first deal Malcolm didn't see anything wrong with taking advantage right back.

A couple of days later Sebastian watched the ship taking off. He knew Serenity's crew made a tidy profit but the real money was down here. The hospital is only the first step. He'll plead for leniency for Morgan West but only if she revealed the location of the gang's stash to him. The West family had been robbing and killing for over a decade and they should have quite a bit of money stashed away. With her confession he should also pick up a reward for their bodies. 

His mind moved quickly. Rent some train cars to haul what's left of Snapdragon to the smelting plant in Emerald City and he'll make a sizable sum. And that was just the beginning. This moon is near Earth sized but only about eight percent of it was inhabited. Ninety one percent of the population lived in the Emerald City and they were content with being the only city on this rock. Having a monopoly on nearly everything. They taxed us to our eyebrows without spending a dime of tax money outside the city limits. The only reason they built the mag trains out here was to make it cheaper to get their groceries to them. Just last month they raised our taxes again to pay for the Emerald City Opera House! Most people out here are never going to visit the Emerald City much less the Emerald City Opera House!" 

He glanced behind the house at the two fresh graves out there. That Shepherd Book did a nice funeral for Cecilia and Polychrome. Things were going to change around here. The Emerald City government only looked within. The Strober family looked out. Sasebo was on the best natural harbor on the Nonestic Ocean but there weren't any place for ships to go. They'll start a shipyard, build some ships and start some mining and farming colonies. Maybe a University. The big thing will be when they build the spaceport. Sebastian grinned. The government will throw a fit over that! But what can they do? Send out the Emerald City police department? If they push too hard we'll declare independence. Sasebo will become a major city and the Strober family have already bought up most of the available land in and around the town. Whatever we spent we'll make back a thousand fold. It'll take decades. He won't live to see it but perhaps his kids and grandkids will. The Strobers were going to establish a legacy.

Epilogue

Kaylee sat on the edge of the bunk in her nice party dress while River fixed her hair into a bun. She had attached amplifiers to the hull. Serenity's song was stronger now. After ten days her leg only gave slight twinges when she climbed the ladder out of her quarters. All her chores were done for the day. She had just finished doing routine maintenance on all the rebreathers on the space suits. Malcolm still wanted six more cry babies but they can wait till tomorrow.

"Thank you for fixing my hair River."

"Grooming each other is how apes establish social contacts."

"Well it's still nice of you to do it."

River finished. "I asked Shepherd if Snapdragon went to Heaven. He said he didn't know but he really thinks it's silly and impossible." She shook her head. "But his Bible is full of silly impossible things because Creator God likes it that way. If Creator God wants Snapdragon in Heaven then he can put Snapdragon in Heaven."

Kaylee smiled. "Well I'm not gonna tell God who he can or can't let into Heaven. If he wants her there then she's there." She stood up and looked in the mirror. "You got the tiara?"

River held it up and looked at it. "It's just carbon with a silver, copper alloy."

Kaylee's eyes sparkled as she took it from her. "But it's so pretty." She admired the workmanship. The jeweler did a very good job. She knew how hard it was to make things and this was a labor of love. An hour earlier River "borrowed" it from Captain Reynolds's quarters and she just had to try it on. Once it was on she tilted her head slightly to watch the small diamonds sparkle and flash. Usually she was content to be Kaylee the tomboy, Kaylee the grease monkey. But sometimes she just wanted to be Kaylee the woman. She knew the tiara didn't belong to her. It didn't belong to Malcolm. It really belonged to Serenity. In two days it was going away. Malcolm found a fence who was going to buy it for less than half of what it was worth but that's how things were when you were selling things that technically aren't yours. The money would go to fuel, crew's shares, parts, and maybe some real food in the galley. The gasket on the outside dorsal airlock door kept leaking. No matter how much repair gel she put on it. It would start leaking again in a few days. The fact was all the airtight gaskets were old and brittle. Should have been replaced decades ago. The tiara would buy new gaskets among other things. 

"You are going to wear it to dinner tonight." River wasn't asking a question, merely stating a fact.

"They'll laugh at me."

"They can laugh at us but they can not stop us. No power in the 'verse can stop us."

Kaylee admired the tiara. "Yes, no power in the 'verse can stop us. Nice things are meant to be enjoyed. Not hidden away and sold to fences. I will wear it!"

River hooked her chin over Kaylee's right shoulder and laced her fingers over Kaylee's abdomen. Kaylee enjoyed the feel of River's soft hair on her cheek. The warmth of her body pressing against her back. The feeling of their ears gently rubbing together had a strange sensuous sensation. She put her hands gently on River's.

"She loved you." Kaylee had no doubt who River was referring to. Her smile faded.

"I killed her."

"No you didn't, you brought her to life. She was dying. Nothing you could do could stop it. You gave her death meaning. A chance to be useful again. One last chance to kiss the sky. To serve and protect the only person in the whole 'verse who really cared for her."

"She was a good ship."

"You have to tell the story."

"I don't know if it's the right time."

"They're sisters. Sisters care about each other."

"Yes, you're right. Sisters care about each other." Kaylee went back to her bunk with River. They sat down and Kaylee picked up a hairbrush and began gently brushing River's hair. She didn't care what apes did.

"Serenity, I'm going to tell you a story about one of your sisters. Her name was Snapdragon and even though she was a very good ship her captain and crew didn't love her, One day . . ."

The End

Author's note: River gives a quote from Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening by Robert Frost. Copyright 1923. She's had a very good education. So this is the end of my very first Firefly story. I hope you liked it. 


End file.
